Alabama
South Carolina
Volleyball Takes Down South Carolina 3-1
11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Behind a balanced offensive effort, the volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 25-27, 25-21) victory Sunday over South Carolina. With the win, the Crimson Tide ended its eight-match losing skid, improving to 7-17 overall and 5-9 against Southeastern Conference opponents. The Gamecocks drop to a 12-11 record on the season and 4-10 against league foes.
"It feels so good to finally get this monkey off our back," said head coach Judy Green. "The team should be very excited and pleased about the way we played this weekend. Our sideout percentage was great today, and we had some good balance on offense. This was an outstanding team effort."
Sophomore Ashley Frazier led both teams this afternoon with a career-best 20 kills, while junior Alyssa Meuth followed close behind with 17. In addition, senior Brooks Webster registered 15 kills in the match. Junior Kayla Schmidt collected a career-high 48 assists and led the team in digs with 11. Freshman Kelsey Anderson added another 10 digs for the Tide. With an impressive eight block assists, sophomore Sarah Machen topped both teams in that category.
South Carolina was the first to get on the board, but Alabama responded quickly. With back-to-back kills from Meuth, the Tide led the set 4-2. Alabama gradually built upon its lead going ahead by three before a trio of kills for the Gamecocks tied the frame at 14-14. The Tide, then, went on a 7-1 run to build a comfortable buffer at 21-15. South Carolina was able to chip away a few points before junior Calli Johnson and Webster teamed up for a blocks setting Alabama up for set point. Webster delivered the final kill to give the Tide a 25-19 win in the opening set.
The early stages of the second remained close, but four consecutive kills, including a pair from Frazier, gave Alabama the 7-4 edge forcing the Gamecocks to burn a timeout. The Tide stayed in front for the duration of the set not allowing South Carolina to get any closer than three points of the lead. Yet again, Webster would earn Alabama's 25th point giving the Tide the 25-16 win in the set for a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.
The third, close throughout, included 15 ties but just one key lead change. Alabama benefitted from a Gamecock attack error to open the frame and fought off five ties before South Carolina was able to string together a pair of points for the 9-8 advantage. The Tide soon fell behind by five points at 15-10, but came back, thanks to an 8-3 run, to even the score at 18-18. Alabama was able to keep the set alive taking away three set-point attempts from the Gamecocks, however, a pair of kills down the stretch gave South Carolina the 27-25 win in the third.
Frazier got the Tide on the board first with a kill to open the fourth frame. Alabama then used a 5-2 run to extend its lead to five off a service ace from Schmidt. The Tide remained in front throughout the entire set with the help of four kills from both Frazier and Webster. To continue the day's trend, Webster threw down one final kill on set point off the assist from Schmidt to give Alabama the 25-21 win in the fourth.
"I am so proud of our team right now," added Green. "They had a solid week of practice and really deserved this win."
The Tide had one of its best offensive days, statistically, with 64 kills in 140 attempts for a .357 hitting clip. In addition, Alabama registered 11.5 blocks and five service aces.
The Tide will be back in action Friday, Nov. 6, in Lexington, Ky., when it faces the 12th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. (CST).
