Alabama
Tennessee
Volleyball Topped by No. 24 Tennessee 3-0
10/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2010
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The volleyball team dropped its second road contest of the weekend falling 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 26-24) at No. 24 Tennessee on Sunday. With the loss, the Crimson Tide stands at 9-10 on the season and 1-8 in Southeastern Conference play. The win brings the Lady Volunteers to 15-4 overall and 7-3 against league opponents.
"I saw a lot of positive things happening for our team today," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "I thought Alyssa (Meuth) and Calli (Johnson) were outstanding today and perhaps played their best match in conference play. I feel as if we have so much more room to improve, and I know our team will be committed to doing just that. I am excited to see where we go from here for the second half of SEC play."
Sophomore Kayla Fitterer led all attackers in the match with 14 kills followed closely behind by senior Alyssa Meuth, who finished with 13. Senior Kayla Schmidt and junior Stephanie Riley combined for 33 of Alabama's 37 assists, while sophomore Kelsey Anderson tallied a team-best 13 digs. Senior Calli Johnson led the Tide at the net getting a hand on four of Alabama's seven blocks.
The Tide tacked on the first two points of the match and led until back-to-back errors gave Tennessee a 4-3 lead. Alabama led once again at 5-4 thanks to consecutive kills, one from Johnson and the other from Fitterer, but the Lady Vols quickly got back in front and failed to give up the lead for the duration of the set. The Tide would even the score on three occasions, but a 14-5 run through the middle part of the first gave Tennessee a comfortable lead at 22-14. Alabama fought off the first set-point opportunity for the Lady Vols off a Fitterer kill, but Tennessee would deliver a kill on the ensuing play for the 25-17 win.
The second was the closest of the three sets throughout with 13 ties and a pair of lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points until a ball handling error for the Tide put the Lady Vols on top 17-14. Alabama did not back down and used a 4-1 run to tie the frame at 18-18. Despite another two more ties, the Tide was unable to get back in front as Tennessee put together a 5-1 drive to close out the set winning 25-21.
Meuth put Alabama on the board first in final set with a kill off the feed from Schmidt. The Tide stayed on top until back-to-back errors gave the Lady Vols the 7-6 edge. Tennessee steadily distanced itself from Alabama going up by as many as four on four occasions. With the score set at 18-14, the Tide clawed its way back to tie the third at 19-19 capped off by a kill from Meuth. Alabama and Tennessee were neck-and-neck down the stretch, but it would be the Lady Vols coming out on top 26-24 finishing the set with a pair of kills.
Tennessee collected six more kills than Alabama and edged out the Tide in hitting percentage finishing with a .286 percentage compared to Alabama's .204 clip. The Lady Vols also had four service aces in the match and held the Tide to zero aces for the first time this season.
Alabama wraps up its first half of SEC play Wednesday, Oct. 20, when it travels to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State at 7 p.m. CT. The Tide will then host Mississippi on Sunday, Oct. 24, for a 1:30 p.m. CT start.
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