Tide Volleyball Falls on the Road to Ole Miss
10/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss.- The University of Alabama volleyball fell in four games to Ole Miss today at the Gillom Sports Center on the University of Mississippi campus, 30-19, 28-30, 28-30, 20-30.
Despite the loss, the Crimson Tide had four players in double digit kills, with senior Bridget Fuentez leading all players with 16. Freshman Alyssa Meuth, who made her first conference appearance against LSU on Friday, posted a career high 13 kills. Junior libero Amy Pauly had a match high 21 digs and senior Megan Hudson contributed 17.
"I was very proud of the way Alyssa handled her first collegiate start and I thought she played with a lot of confidence in the L2 spot," said Alabama head coach Judy Green. "Another bright spot was that Bridget Fuentez played a better match and hit the ball with a lot of confidence."
Alabama came out strong in game one and jumped out to an early lead on the Rebels. The Tide was strong behind the service line as Fuentez and Pauly ran off a string of points late in the game to put Ole Miss out of reach. The Tide held Ole Miss to a -.085 hitting percentage and recorded four team blocks to keep Ole Miss out of system.
The Tide and the Rebels headed into the locker room tied at one game a piece after Ole Miss took game two off a service ace from Jackie Jones. Despite the losing effort, Fuentez contributed 10 kills and hit .423.
"I thought Ole Miss played much more consistent volleyball than we did," said Green. "After we won game one I felt like our team did not have a sense of urgency to continue to play that hard on every ball."
Alabama overcame a nine point defecit late in game three to force Ole Miss to take a timeout, leading 28-26. The Rebels stunted the Alabama point run with a kill from the outside. However, a Liz Salstrand kill paired with a Rebel error put the Tide only one point behind Ole Miss. However, Caitlin Weiss of Ole Miss ended game three on a kill from the outside that gave the Rebels a one game advantage heading into the fourth game.
In game five, Alabama never took the lead from the Rebels and fell 20-30.
"Right now the biggest thing for us is we've got to try to find consistency in our game and that has to be consistency in training in the practice gym and it has to be consistent performances by everyone on our team," Green said. "That is coaching but it is also, at the midway point in the season, we have to play with a sense of urgency."
With the loss, Alabama moves to 8-9 overall and 5-3 in the SEC as Ole Miss improves to 15-4 and 5-3 in the SEC.
Alabama is back in action next weekend as the Tide is on the road for the third consecutive match, taking on Auburn at 7:00 p.m.
