Alabama
Tennessee
Volleyball Edged by Tennessee 3-1
9/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2008
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Tennessee Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena 25-17, 25-17, 24-26, 25-18. The Crimson Tide now owns a 7-4 overall record and 0-2 in the SEC, while the Lady Volunteers improve to 7-4 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
"This weekend was a complete wakeup call for our team," said head coach Judy Green. "It was very obvious that we made too many mistakes in order to be successful. When you play to 25 points you cannot give away an entire set on hitting errors. The good thing about the mistakes we made this weekend is that all the errors are correctable."
Alabama hit just .025 percent for the match with 34 total kills. Amy Pauly had a season-high 24 digs, as did Brooks Webster, who finished the match with 17. Lauren Martin upped her career high in kills with seven on the day.
Alabama opened the first set with a big block from Lindsey Buteyn to take the early 1-0 lead. Tennessee went on a quick 5-1 run before the Tide tied it up at 5-5 behind a service ace from Mary Catherine Aune and kill by Martin. The Lady Vols took the lead back on the next point, but Alabama scored back-to-back points for the set's third tie. Tennessee put up the next four points to go ahead 11-7. The Tide came within three points of the lead on three occasions, but did not get any closer.
Elizabeth Salstrand had a perfectly placed kill to put Alabama on the board first in the second set. Aune tallied her second service ace of the match to push the Tide to a 3-1 lead. Behind a short 5-2 run, the Lady Vols took the 6-5 advantage. Alabama kept it close staying within four before Tennessee ended the match scoring nine of the final 13 points.
The third set was a thriller from beginning to end with the Tide coming out on top 26-24. Alabama took its first two-point lead off a solo block by Elizabeth Salstrand to put the Tide ahead 14-12. The duration of the set saw eight ties and six lead changes. Alabama went in front 25-24 off a Lady Vol service ace, and won the set off a block by Calli Johnson and Webster.
Much of the fourth remained close until Tennessee pulled away midway through the set going on an 8-4 scoring run. The Lady Vols would take the set 25-18 to win the match.
Today's match was the 35th meeting between the two programs. Despite Tennessee owning the 23-12 series advantage, the Tide has won five of the last six matches including two 3-0 shutouts last season.
Next up, Alabama hosts Auburn Friday, Sept. 26 at The CAVE. Opening serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (CST).
