Alabama
Georgia
Volleyball Comes up Short at Georgia
10/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2009
ATHENS, Ga. - Despite a late rally in the fourth set, the volleyball team was unable to overcome its deficit falling 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21) Sunday afternoon at Georgia. With the loss, the Crimson Tide drops to 6-16 overall and 4-8 versus Southeastern Conference opponents. The Bulldogs improve to 13-9 on the season and 4-7 in league matches.
"Right now inconsistency is our greatest enemy," said head coach Judy Green. "We just can't seem to put it all together."
Junior Alyssa Meuth and sophomore Ashley Frazier both registered double-digit kills in the match with 16 and 10, respectively. Junior Kayla Schmidt dished out 34 assists, just two shy of her personal best, while also tallying a career-high tying three kills and a career-best three service aces. Senior Brooks Webster led the Alabama defense with 17 digs followed by freshman Kelsey Anderson with 12 scoops. In addition, Webster had a hand in four of the Tide's seven blocks.
Georgia got the early 3-1 lead in the opening set and stayed in front despite four ties from Alabama. The score remained close until the Bulldogs put up six unanswered points for the 17-11 advantage. Georgia pulled ahead by as many as eight points before the Tide strung together a 6-2 run that set the score at 24-20. Throughout that run, Alabama was able to fight off a trio of set points, but a kill from junior Erika Clark in the following series gave the Bulldogs the 25-20 win in the first.
The second went back and forth between the two teams with the set seeing 17 ties and nine lead changes. Neither team was able to gain more than a one-point advantage on the other until Georgia put up three consecutive points for the 14-11 edge. Alabama would close in once again taking the lead for good at 22-21 thanks to a service ace from Schmidt. The Tide closed out the set moments later grabbing the 25-22 victory heading into intermission.
The Bulldogs came out strong to start the third registering a pair of kills and a block for the 3-0 lead. Alabama answered that with a three-point run of its own to even the set at 3-3. The score remained close throughout until Georgia was able to rally for a trio of points to jump in front 16-13. The Tide cut its deficit to one point on two occasions, but the Bulldogs ended the set on an 8-2 run to take the third 25-18 and go ahead two sets to one.
It would be Alabama jumping on top to start the fourth as the Tide found itself up 3-1 early. Georgia then went on to score four straight points behind three kills and a block, for the 5-3 lead. The Bulldogs continued to pace the frame until a pair of attack errors put Alabama up 9-8. Georgia quickly overtook the lead once again and began to distance itself from the Tide scoring five unanswered points for the 15-10 lead. Just when it looked like the Bulldogs were going to run away with the set, Alabama rallied to score six straight points to pull within two at 20-18. The Tide comeback would fall short shortly after as Georgia threw down a pair of kills to close out the match 25-21.
Alabama returns home to host No. 10 Florida and South Carolina on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, respectively. Friday's matchup with the Gators will begin at 7:00 p.m. (CST), while Sunday's contest with the Gamecocks is slated for 1:30 p.m. (CST).
