Alabama
Auburn
Volleyball Falls on the Road at Auburn
10/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - The volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 28-26) decision Sunday at Auburn to fall to 8-7 overall and 0-5 in Southeastern Conference play. With the win, the Tigers improved to 13-5 on the season and 4-2 against league opponents.
"I think our team has now learned the type of effort and attitude it is going to take to turn our season around," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "One thing is clear, we need to execute better in match-like situations and make better decisions. This one hurts because we beat ourselves."
The Crimson Tide had 36 kills and 21 attack errors off 126 attempts for a hitting percentage of .119, while Auburn struck at the ball 123 times collecting 43 kills and committing just 12 errors for an overall percentage of .252. The Tigers were also more efficient at siding out in the match capitalizing on 68 percent of its attempts to Alabama's 52 percent.
Freshman Brianne Vande Griend led the Tide in kills with 11, while senior Kayla Schmidt tallied the 13th double-double of her career with a team-best 19 assists and 12 digs. Sophomore Kelsey Anderson continued to lead in the back row for Alabama with her team-high 16 digs.
The Tide led early in the first set, but a 14-4 run by the Tigers put Auburn up by seven at 17-10. Following an Alabama timeout, Vande Griend delivered a kill to end the scoring drought for the Tide, however the hole was too deep for Alabama to dig itself out of with the Tigers taking the set 25-13.
In the second, the Tide, again, got off to a good start scoring the first three points of the set. Alabama remained in front, and led by as many as four in the frame, but Auburn would battle back scoring nine unanswered points for the 24-18 lead. The Tide scored two additional points in the set before committing an attack error to award the second to the Tigers 25-20.
The third was much like the second with Alabama leading by as many as five throughout the early stages. Again, Auburn capitalized on a late 8-0 run for the 22-19 lead. The Tide evened the frame three times, but the Tigers managed to score a pair late to win the set 28-26.
Despite the loss, Alabama remains on top in the overall series 43-26 winning six of the last eight meetings. The last two matches, however, have gone in favor of Auburn 3-0.
Alabama returns home for a pair of SEC East matchups when it takes on No. 2 Florida and South Carolina next weekend. The Tide and Gators will meet on Friday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. CT. The match will serve as Alabama's annual Power of Pink event to raise awareness for breast cancer. The Tide and Gamecocks are slated to play Sunday, Oct. 10, at 1 p.m. CT with the match airing live on FSN.
