Alabama
Fresno State
Volleyball Falls in 3-2 Heartbreaker to Fresno State
9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Alabama volleyball team's comeback fell just short as the Crimson Tide suffered a 3-2 loss (25-16, 28-26, 16-25, 20-25, 16-14) to Fresno State Friday in match one of the Hornet Invitational at Colberg Court. Alabama drops to 2-6 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 6-1 overall.
"I thought we got off to a very slow start but played right back into it and gave ourselves a chance to win," said head coach Judy Green. "I thought our defensive players, in particular Kelsey Anderson and Mary Catherine Aune, gave us a lift emotionally. We were in the match right there until the end. I think we need a little more focus to finish and also to be prepared to play the first set from the start. If we can do those two things we are definitely headed in the right direction. I was still proud of the way we responded after being down 2-0."
Freshman Kayla Fitterer collected a career-best 17 kills for the Tide followed by sophomore Ashley Frazier with 16. Junior Kayla Schmidt led the setting tandem with a season-best 33 assists, and freshman Kelsey Anderson notched the first double-figure dig outing of her career with a match-high 15 scoops.
Alabama opened the match with a big block from junior Alyssa Meuth and redshirt sophomore Sarah Machen to take the early 1-0 edge. Unfortunately, errors in the next few plays by the Tide handed Fresno State the lead and allowed the Bulldogs to pull in front 9-4 forcing Alabama to take a timeout. That break in play would prove to be beneficial as the Tide then put together a 6-1 run setting the score at 10-10. After one more tie at 11-11, Fresno State used a 6-0 run to distance its self from Alabama taking the 17-11 advantage. The Tide came within four of the lead on two occasions, but the Bulldogs eventually closed out the first by a score of 25-16.
After another 1-0 start for Alabama, Fresno State would once again take the early lead. This time, though, the Tide would not allow the Bulldogs to keep it for very long thanks to a kill by Frazier and a Fresno State attack error. Following the 5-5 tie, Alabama scored four consecutive points capped off by a service ace from Anderson. The Tide held the lead throughout most of the set until the Bulldogs jumped ahead 18-17. From that point on, the score remained close with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage. With Fresno State serving for the set, Frazier laid a kill down the line to keep Alabama alive in the second. She would repeat on the next play with another kill tying the score at 24-24. The Tide would fight off two more set points attempts by the Bulldogs, but a pair of errors at the end gave Fresno State the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Just one set away from elimination, Alabama came out blazing in the third causing the Bulldogs to call an early timeout. The pause in action didn't affect the Tide at all as the crimson and white used a 7-2 run to put it on top 12-4. Alabama continued to respond to every Fresno State attempted run not allowing the Bulldogs to come within four points of the lead. A pair of Frazier kills and an attack error from Fresno State ended the third giving the Tide the 25-16 win.
The fourth was the closest scoring set as it saw seven ties. After an early 1-0 lead for the Bulldogs, Alabama put up a pair of points to take control. Despite several ties throughout the middle of the set, the Tide would not give up the lead. A 4-1 run at 15-14 helped give Alabama the most breathing room it had had up to that point in the set. Again, the Tide would put up the final three points of the set giving it the 25-20 win and forcing the match to go to a decisive fifth frame.
Alabama's arms were swinging early in the fifth as Fitterer and Meuth combined for five kills to put the crimson and white on top 6-4. The Tide would take a five-point lead, its largest of the set, off a block from senior Elizabeth Salstrand and Machen setting the score at 10-5. The Bulldogs got back into it with a 5-0 run to tie the score at 10-10. After four additional ties, Fresno State took its first lead of the fifth off a service ace. On the next play, the Bulldogs blocked an attack attempt from Fitterer to close out the set 16-14 and win the match 3-2.
Alabama continues play at the Hornet Invitational tomorrow when it takes on San Francisco and Sacramento State. The Tide's match with the Dons is slated for Noon (CST), while its final match of the tournament against Sacramento State will begin at 9:30 p.m. (CST).
