Alabama
Georgia
Volleyball Wins Showdown at Georgia in Five Sets
11/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. - The volleyball team put forth one of its best performances of the season to win a five-set thriller at Georgia by scores of 25-19, 22-25, 15-25, 36-34, 15-13 Sunday afternoon. The 36-34 fourth set was its longest of the season. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 13-11 on the season and 6-9 in Southeastern Conference matches, while the Bulldogs slip to 15-12 overall and 8-8 in league play.
"I thought our team played with a great deal of composure and a great deal of determination throughout the whole match," said Head Coach Judy Green. "Our character and our ability to side out late in the fourth set gave us the momentum to finish the match. I am very proud of our team."
Brooks Webster led all hitters in the match with a career-high 26 kills. In addition, Webster added 13 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Stephanie Riley also notched a double-double for Alabama with a career-best 58 assists and 13 digs. Ashley Frazier finished the match with 16 kills setting a new career high. Lindsey Buteyn was the fourth Tide player to collect double-digit kills with 12. Amy Pauly gave Alabama a solid performance on defense ending the match with 19 digs.
Georgia led for the early part of the opening set that saw a total of nine ties. Alabama took its first lead at 7-6 off a Bulldog attack error. Although Georgia attempted a comeback, the Tide proved to be too strong. Alabama's 9-3 lead sent it soaring ahead by six setting the score at 21-15.The Tide ended the first off a kill from Webster taking the set 25-19. Alabama hit .394 in the opening frame.
Frazier threw down a kill to open the second giving the Tide the early 1-0 edge. The Bulldogs scored back-to-back points to take the lead that they held until another Frazier kill awarded Alabama the 8-7 edge. Minutes later, Georgia regained the lead 10-9 off a Tide attack error. Alabama stayed close never letting the Bulldogs pull too far out of reach, but a 6-3 run late in the second gave Georgia the set 25-22.
The Bulldogs took a quick 4-0 lead to start the third. The Tide kept it close early on in, but a pair of 6-1 runs for Georgia in the middle and the end of the third gave the Bulldogs the 25-15 set win.
Consecutive kills for Georgia gave it an early 2-0 advantage in the fourth. The Bulldogs went up by as many as four points early on, but the Tide rallied back to tie it up at 9-9 thanks to Frazier's hustling efforts. Georgia held on to the lead until Alabama snatched it away at 12-11. The Bulldogs briefly took back the lead at 15-14, but the Tide quickly grabbed it back at 16-15. Georgia kept close falling behind no less than two points and eventually tied the score at 21-21 beginning the rally to the finish. Not one person in the stands was sitting to watch the duration of the fourth that saw 13 ties and two lead changes. Back-to-back kills for Alabama, one from Buteyn and one from Webster, capped off the set awarding the Tide the 36-34 victory.
Both teams came out strong in the deciding fifth set. Frazier earned the first point for Alabama off a kill. The Tide led throughout the first half of the frame until Georgia notched back-to-back points taking the 8-7 edge. The Bulldogs continued to lead throughout the middle of the set, but four consecutive points by Alabama put it in front 14-11. Georgia delivered a late scare bringing the score within one at 14-13 before Webster laid down her final kill of the match giving the Tide the set and match win.
Alabama returns home for a pair of contests next weekend when it takes on Ole Miss and Arkansas. Friday's match with the Rebels is set for 7:30 p.m. (CST), while Sunday's contest with the Razorbacks will tip off at 1:30 p.m. (CST).
