Alabama
Auburn
Volleyball Falls to Auburn in Heartbreaking Fashion
11/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama volleyball team (10-18, 2-16 SEC) dropped a heart-breaking 3-2 (21-25, 26-28, 25-19, 25-19, 16-14) thriller to rival Auburn (18-12, 9-9 SEC), Friday evening in the CAVE. The Crimson Tide was led by sophomore Kayla Fitterer with 20 kills and senior Kayla Schmidt with 29 assists.
Alabama head coach Judy Green was recognized after the match for her 15 seasons of service at the Capstone. Director of Athletics Mal Moore joined Green's squad in a court side ceremony recognizing the coach for her many accomplishments at UA. The standing room-only crowd of 1,226 stayed after the match to show their appreciation for Green, who announced her retirement during the offseason.
"I feel that the rivalry between Alabama and Auburn has been renewed in volleyball and that is really fun to see," Green said. "Tonight's match was an epic battle between two really good volleyball teams. I couldn't be more proud of the effort that we fought with tonight and the composure that we had in the fifth set was outstanding."
After senior Calli Johnson's clutch kill to give the Tide a 14-13 lead in the fifth set, Auburn struck back quickly with three straight kills - the final two coming from Kelly Fidero - to head back to the plains with a victory.
Alabama's hopes looked good early, as the Tide claimed the first two sets, 25-21 and 28-26. The Tigers refused to surrender though battling back to win the next two sets, both 25-19, before edging out the Tide in the fifth set, 16-14.
Trailing 3-2 early in the first set, Alabama went on a 5-0 run sparked by a kill by senior Calli Johnson. The Crimson Tide lead would hover around three points until a kill by Fitterer and an ensuing attack error by the Tigers' Katherine Culwell gave Alabama a 21-16 advantage. Fitterer and senior Alyssa Meuth combined for 10 kills in the set, as the Crimson Tide out-hit the Tigers .429 to .231 in the opener. A service error by Auburn's Kelly Fidero would finish out the 25-21 first set for UA, giving Alabama the early 1-0 edge.
In a tightly contested second set, neither team would find room to pull away from the other. The largest lead in the set was four points which didn't come until Alabama claimed a 21-17 edge. Despite the close scores, Auburn only led once at 2-1. With the set knotted up at 23-23, Alabama senior Mary Catherine Aune delivered a service ace to give the Crimson Tide a set point but the Tigers battled back with a kill by Morgan Johns. The teams would trade points until an attack error by Auburn's Camila Jersonsky after a wild scramble gave Alabama the second set in extra points, 28-26.
The third set had a whole new tone to it than the first two. Auburn claimed the first two points and after Alabama clawed back to tie the set at 6-6, the Tigers took control. An attack error by Fitterer began a 6-0 Auburn run that didn't end until a kill by Alabama freshman Shelbi Goode to pull the Tide back within five at 12-7. Alabama never got closer than four points the rest of the way as Auburn rode four kills by Johns down the stretch to seal the 25-19 win.
Auburn jumped out to the early lead in the fourth set, 4-0, thanks to two kills by Sarah Bullock and two attack errors by the Crimson Tide. Alabama fought back to tie the match, 5-5 after a kill by Meuth but Auburn would win 10 of the next 15 points. Again Alabama rallied, this time closing the gap to 18-16 after a Fitterer kill, and again Auburn pulled away. After the Tigers pulled out to a 21-17 lead, two more attack errors put the game out of reach for the Crimson Tide. A service error by senior Kayla Schmidt closed the scoring and Auburn claimed the fourth set, 25-19.
Alabama will return to the CAVE on Sunday, Nov. 21 when the Crimson Tide will host the Georgia Bulldogs. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. and will air on CSS.
