Alabama
Florida
Volleyball Drops Nail Biter to No. 10 Florida
10/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The volleyball team fell in a close 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 33-31) contest against No. 10 Florida in the CAVE Friday night. The loss moves the Crimson Tide to 6-17 on the season and 4-9 in Southeastern Conference matchups. The Gators are now 17-3 on the year and have compiled an 11-2 record against league opponents.
"That's the most composed and most competitive that we've been in four weeks," said head coach Judy Green. "We had a chance to win this match because we were composed and under control. We were definitely an improved volleyball team after a really good week of practice."
Junior Alyssa Meuth led Alabama with 15 kills followed closely by sophomore Ashley Frazier with 14. Junior Kayla Schmidt doled out 32 assists for a match-high. Senior Brooks Webster and freshman Kelsey Anderson both had double-digit digs for Alabama with 16 and 12, respectively.
"We worked a lot on our hitting this week in practice. I feel like several of our players improved a lot. I was very proud of Ashley's (Frazier) performance. She stepped up to the challenge to do that after working very hard this week in practice. I think she learned she could be a better attacker. After the way our team looked tonight, we are going to expect on Sunday that the same team is going to show up because that's the way it's going to have to be."
The first set, close throughout, included nine ties and five lead changes. The score was 2-1 before the Tide put together a five point run to go up 5-2. Alabama remained on top until Florida tied the set at 11-11. A Meuth kill put the Tide on top 14-13, but the Gators soon jumped back in front. Calli Johnson earned a kill to tie the set up again at 17-17 before Ashley Frazier connected on back-to-back kills followed by a Kelsey Anderson service ace put Alabama on top again at 20-18. The Gators were able to rebound and take the first set 25-20.
The second set was much like the first, with 11 ties and five lead changes. Webster and Johnson teamed up early for a big block to put the Tide on top 4-3. Florida rallied and a Webster service ace tied the set at 6-6. Later in the set, three straight points, including back-to-back kills by Webster and Meuth, put Alabama up 12-9. The Tide was up 15-12 off of a Meuth kill followed up with a service ace. A Gator block tied the set up again at 16-16. Back-to-back kills by Meuth tied things up late at 21-21 before Florida pulled away and took the set 25-22.
The third set, same as the previous two was back and forth until the end, with 17 ties and five lead changes before the Gators finally took the set at 33-31. A Frazier kill tied the set early at 6-6 before Florida scored three straight. Frazier and Webster put together back-to-back kills to get the Tide within one point at 15-14. Webster then tied the set at 18-18 before Frazier tied the set again late at 22-22. Another Frazier kill put Alabama on top 25-24. The set was close with Johnson making it 30-30 before a Gator kill delivered the final blow.
