Alabama
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Mississippi State
Volleyball Concludes Season with 3-1 Win Over Mississippi State
11/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 24, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama volleyball team sent out its four seniors and head coach in grand fashion, defeating rival Mississippi State 3-1 (25-14, 29-27, 21-25, 25-13) Wednesday evening at the CAVE. Sophomore Kayla Fitterer led the Crimson Tide with 18 kills on the night, while senior Mary Catherine Aune paced the team with 23 digs.
"I'm really proud of our team," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "It has been a joy to coach this group of young women. They have tremendous character, they have a fighting spirit and I think that is going to continue to lead them on to bigger and better things in their lives. I hope the returners will continue to build the bridge in making this program even more successful than it has been."
Green was at the helm of her last match at Alabama and Calli Johnson, Alyssa Meuth and Kayla Schmidt joined Aune in wrapping up their Alabama careers. The Tide finishes the season 11-19 overall and 3-17 in Southeastern Conference play while MSU moves to 11-20 overall and 3-17 in league play.
The Tide hit .283 on the day while the Bulldogs posted only a .144 clip. Caitlin Rance paced MSU with 14 kills while Ashley Newsome tallied 12 kills.
Alabama found its touch when senior Alyssa Meuth and freshman Brianne Vande Griend recorded kills, putting the Crimson Tide ahead, 7-3. Fitterer's first kill of the match led to a Mississippi State timeout at 9-4, but the Bulldogs never got closer than four points from that point forward. Fitterer and Vande Griend both recorded five kills for Alabama in the set. A kill by Alyssa Meuth ended the set and gave Alabama its largest lead of the set at 11 points, 25-14.
Alabama started the second set strong, riding two kills from Meuth to a 5-1 lead. The teams played evenly until Mississippi State came roaring back, scoring six straight points to take a 14-13 lead. Alabama, however, answered right back with five straight points including a Vande Griend block and an ace by Aune to regain an 18-14 lead. Trailing 21-16, the Bulldogs had one last rally left in them and they rattled off five more points in a row, tying the match on an attack error from Fitterer. Fitterer responded with four more kills as the set went to extra points. With the set tied 27-27, Meuth tied a season high with two service aces and they came on consecutive points to give the Crimson Tide the 29-27 victory.
Early in the third set, neither team was able to grab a commanding lead but Mississippi State opened up a five-point lead with a 5-0 run. The run was three Bulldog kills and two attack errors from Alabama. Alabama was never able to regain the lead in the set but pulled the Bulldog lead down to 22-20 on an ace from Fitterer. Vande Griend led all players with six kills in the third set, while Mississippi State's Caitlin Rance had five. Mississippi State won the third set, 25-21, its first of the night.
The fourth set began a lot like the second set as Alabama took control of the set early. Fitterer's third kill of the set came on just the ninth point, and sophomore Kelsey Anderson recorded her first kill of the night to give the Crimson Tide a 10-2 lead. The two teams played the next 20 points evenly and made the score 20-12, Alabama. Two kills by Vande Griend and two blocks and a kill from Calli Johnson made up the next five Crimson Tide points as they closed the match out by winning set four, 25-13.
