Alabama
Tennessee
Volleyball Falls on the road to Tennessee 3-0
11/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The volleyball team ended its final full Southeastern Conference road weekend with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-23) loss at Tennessee Sunday in Thompson-Boling Arena. The loss drops the Crimson Tide to 7-19 overall and 5-11 against league opponents, while the Lady Volunteers improve to 19-6 on the season and 12-3 in the SEC.
"We gave a hard-fought effort for 80 percent of the match, but 80 percent effort isn't good enough to beat any team at the top of the SEC." said head coach Judy Green. "I thought we got very good play from our bench today, and that gave us a lift. We are going to expect, and need more, focus out of everyone over our last four matches."
Junior Alyssa Meuth was the only Alabama attacker to notch double-digit kills as she finished the match with 10. Junior Kayla Schmidt collected her ninth double-double of the season leading the team in assists with 15 and digs with 19. Also scooping up double-figure digs in the match was senior Brooks Webster and freshman Kelsey Anderson with 10 a piece.
In the first, Alabama kept close eventually tying the set at 4-4 before Tennessee rattled off five unanswered points for the 9-5 advantage. The Lady Vols gradually built on their lead pulling ahead by as many as seven. The Tide notched back-to-back kills and capitalized on a pair of attack errors from Tennessee to cut the lead to three at 19-16, but the comeback would fall short as the Lady Vols closed out the frame on a block moments later by a score of 25-20.
Alabama found itself on top during the early stages of the second until a trio of Tide attack errors put Tennessee in front 7-6. Alabama led briefly again at 8-7 before Tennessee put together a 4-0 scoring drive to take the 11-8 edge. The Lady Vols managed to formulate another 4-0 mini run to extend their lead to six points at 15-9. Once again, the Tide would rally late in the set cutting its deficit to three, but Tennessee capitalized on solid hitting down the stretch for the 25-19 win in the second.
The Lady Vols started in front in the third, but a quartet of errors by the home team gave Alabama the 4-3 lead moments later. Tennessee rebounded with a pair of kills and found itself back on top, but that didn't last long as the Tide countered with back-to-back kills from Webster to overtake the lead. Alabama continued to pace the frame until the midway point as the Lady Vols strung together a 5-0 run for the 14-13 advantage. After three additional lead changes, the Tide looked like it was primed to close out the third with a 22-19 edge, but Tennessee battled back and outscored Alabama 6-1 to finish off the match with a 25-23 victory in the set.
The Tide returns to Tuscaloosa for its final home weekend of the 2009 season when it hosts Mississippi and Arkansas. Alabama faces off with the Rebels Friday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. (CST) before taking on the Razorbacks, in a match to be aired on Fox Sports South, Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1:00 p.m. (CST). Prior to Sunday's match, the senior class will also be recognized for its contributions to the program.
