Volleyball Defeats Auburn 3-1 on the Road
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
AUBURN, Ala.- Alabama snapped a three-match losing streak tonight against in-state rival Auburn, 3-1, at the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. With the win the Tide improves to 9-9 overall and 6-3 in the SEC.
"I think our players played with a purpose tonight," said Alabama head coach Judy Green. "I think they now have a more clear vision of where they want to go as a team and I think they showed that tonight."
The Crimson Tide outplayed the Tigers across the board as Alabama tallied 74 kills and hit .306 as a team. The Tide also posted six team blocks and 96 digs. Senior setter Brigitte Slack dished out 57 assists in the winning effort.
"We hit the ball extremely well today and we had good balance in our offense and that always makes an enormous difference. I was really proud of the way Lindsey Butyne and Brooks Webster came up big for us late in the match. When you hit 30 percent and dig 96 balls you should be successful."
The Tide came out strong to take game one from the Tigers, 30-24. Alabama held two six-point leads after falling behind early in the game. Freshman Mary Catherine Aune sparked a six point run behind the service line as she collected her 20th ace of the season.
In game two, Alabama dominated the Tigers across the board. Senior Bridget Fuentez earned her 11th kill of the match to end game two and send the Tide to the locker room leading two games to none.
Auburn retaliated after the break in game three by defeating Alabama 30-23. The Tigers led by as many as eight and the Tide could not recover from the deep deficit. Alabama could not contain Auburn's offense and the Tigers went on to hit a match-high .383 in game three.
The Tide started game four in the same fashion it started game two and took a five point lead out of the gate. Auburn fought back to move within two of Alabama, however, the Tide kept the Tigers at a safe distance with senior Megan Hudson behind the line. Alabama rallied to a match-high eight point lead and finished the match with a smash from All-American middle blocker Crystal Hudson.
Alabama returns to action Sunday as it plays host to Georgia in the CAVE at 1:30 p.m. Live statistics and match information can be found at www.rolltide.com.
