Tide Upsets No. 10 LSU, 3-1
10/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA ?? It would have been difficult to pick a better finish to the first Alabama Volleyball Legends day. The Tide, who honored Erin Heffner, its most decorated player in program history prior to the match against 10th-ranked LSU, made the day even more legendary by adding a win for the ages.
The Tide shocked the Tigers with a 3-1 win in the CAVE to earn a sweep of SEC West rivals for the weekend. Alabama swept Arkansas, 3-0, on Friday night.
Alabama split the first two games, but dominated the action in the tail end of the third and all of the fourth to earn just the fourth win over a ranked team in program history. It was the highest-rated program the Tide has ever defeated and its third win over the Tigers in the past two seasons.
More importantly, the upset gave the Tide two straight wins over teams in the volleyball RPI’s top 50 and moved the Alabama SEC win streak to four matches.
“LSU is a great team, but I thought coming in that we matched up with them well,” head coach Judy Green said. “Our kids just hung together throughout the day because they were tested.”
The match opened up the way it ended, with the Tide dictating the action against LSU, who entered the match unbeaten in SEC play. Behind the solid serving of junior setter Brigitte Slack, who was outstanding from behind the serving line all afternoon, the Tide built an early lead. LSU made a run to tie the score late in the game, but Alabama finished it out strong to take a 1-0 lead.
LSU rebounded in game two, taking an early lead that the Tide was never able to overcome. The Tigers withstood a late run to take the game, 30-25, to earn a 1-1 tie heading into the break.
It seemed like the Tigers were in control of the match throughout much of the third frame. LSU built a small lead midway through the game and led big late, 28-21.
That’s when Bridget Fuentez took over. Last year’s second team All-SEC honoree put the Tide on her shoulders late in the game, recording seven of her game-high 20 kills in the closing moments of the momentum-changing third frame. Her kill of an overpass sealed the win, giving the Tide a 2-1 lead.
“When we made the comeback on them in game three, I think that gave us the momentum,” Green said. “We just kept waiting to try to get some strings of points together and it finally happened.”
From that point on the issue was never in doubt. Behind some more outstanding serving from Slack as well as from teammate Amy Pauly, the Tide took LSU out of any sort of rhythm. Alabama took advantage, building a 20-7 lead at one point in the third game. The Tide defense held LSU to a -.094 hitting percentage in the final game while siding out at a 63 percent clip to close out any chance of a Tiger comeback.
Fuentez was the leader for the Tide offensively. She tallied 49 attacks on the afternoon, more than any other Alabama player. The Tomball, Texas, native converted 20 of those attempts and added nine digs to the defensive effort.
Crystal Hudson had an outstanding offensive day for the Tide as well. The redshirt junior from Hueytown smashed 16 kills on 23 attempts, good for a .609 hitting percentage. It was the second time this season Hudson has gone over the .600 mark in SEC play. She hit .630 against Mississippi State in the conference opener three weeks ago.
For the second match in a row, Slack ran the offense to perfection. The junior, who moved into third place in the all-time charts in assists on Friday night, added 47 more to her totals. She sparked the Tide with her outstanding service on Sunday and added seven digs to the defensive effort as well.
“Brigitte was just outstanding today,” Green said. “She played a terrific match from all aspects and just continues to get better.”
The leader for Alabama defensively was libero Amy Pauly. The Burr Ridge, Ill., native dug out 25 balls. It was the third time this season that Pauly has gone over the 25-dig mark in a match and her fifth-straight in double figures in the dig column.
“We dug a lot of balls out today,” Green said. “We put a lot of pressure on our blockers early in the match and I don’t think that’s fair to do. We are a good enough volleyball team to get a lot of digs and we finally did that today.”
Rachael Green put in a workmanlike performance at the middle blocker position. She put down five kills and added five block assists and one solo block to the team defensive effort.
The Tide held LSU to a .110 hitting percentage and forced 42 Tiger attack errors. The Tide was much more efficient, hitting .250 for the match with only 23 attacking errors.
Alabama will look to extend its SEC win streak next weekend when the Tide welcomes Kentucky and Tennessee to the CAVE next weekend. Alabama will face the Wildcats on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. and the Lady Vols on Oct. 16 in a 1:30 p.m. match.
