Alabama
North Texas
Volleyball Outlasts North Texas in Five Setter
9/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2010
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Four Alabama players recorded double-figure kills in the Crimson Tide's 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-11, 24-26, 15-7) victory over North Texas on Friday at the CenturyLink Premier. With the win, Alabama improves its streak to five matches bringing the Tide to 6-2 on the season, while the loss drops the Mean Green to 5-3 overall.
"First I thought we did a nice job of adjusting our passing game against a very good serving North Texas team," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "Our primary passers maintained their poise after we got out of system in set two. As the match progressed we took control of the tempo and finished the match of with a lot of confidence."
Leading Alabama in kills was freshman Brianne Vande Griend, who finished the match with 13. Following closely behind was senior Alyssa Meuth and sophomore Kayla Fitterer with 12 apiece and freshman Shelbi Goode with 11. Meuth went errorless for the match as she recorded 12 kills off 20 attempts for a hitting percentage of .600. Senior Kayla Schmidt registered a team-high 28 assists, while sophomore Kelsey Anderson, once again, led Alabama in digs with 16. Both Meuth and fellow senior Calli Johnson had a hand in five of the Tide's nine blocks.
Alabama stormed out to a 9-3 lead in the opening set causing North Texas to burn an early timeout. From there, the Tide continued to distance itself from the Mean Green taking as much as an eight-point advantage. Back-to-back kills from Meuth finished off the frame giving Alabama the 25-18 decision and a one-set edge in the match.
The second started off close until four consecutive points from North Texas gave the Mean Green a 9-5 lead in the set. The Tide would tack on the next two points after calling timeout to bring the score to 9-7, however North Texas would respond with a 6-2 run to go back on top by four. The Mean Green steadily built on its lead pulling ahead by as many as eight late in the set. Alabama fought off a pair of set-point opportunities for North Texas with two kills, but the Mean Green soon closed it out with a kill of its own for the 25-18 win that evened the match to one set apiece.
The third was all Alabama as the Tide was able to put together an 8-0 scoring run that ended on a service error to jump ahead 17-4. The next three points were scored by North Texas, but again Alabama was able to string together a series of points, this time a 5-0 run, to pull within two points of the set win at 23-9. The Mean Green benefitted from a kill and Tide attack error to earn the next pair of points, however a kill by redshirt sophomore Leigh Moyer and a service ace from Fitterer cemented the set victory for Alabama.
The fourth set went down to the wire as there were 11 ties and seven lead changes throughout. The Tide got on the board first and continued to lead in the early stages of the set before North Texas was able to tie the score at 12-12. From there, neither team took more than a one-point lead until the Mean Green was able to tally the final two points of the set, one on a kill and the other on an Alabama attack error, for the 26-24 win that would send the Tide to its first five-set match of the season.
Alabama wasted no time getting in front using a trio of kills, an attack error and a block to pull ahead 5-1. An 8-4 stretch by the Tide that included a pair of blocks, put Alabama on top 13-5 forcing North Texas to use its final timeout. The Mean Green was able to stay alive for four more possessions; however a kill from Goode off the feed from junior Stephanie Riley gave the Tide the win to extend its winning streak to five matches.
Alabama hit .306 in the match while holding North Texas to just .164 throughout the five sets. The Tide also topped the Mean Green in kills (61-57), digs (63-59), and blocks (9.0-4.0).
"I thought our two freshmen, Shelbi Goode and Brianne Vande Griend, both played intelligently and had outstanding performances, but it was the play of senior Alyssa Meuth, both offensively and defensively, that gave us the passion and energy we needed to finish the match," Green added. "She took over in the fifth set. Our coaching staff was also very proud of our team's mentality heading into our first five set match of the season. We have been working on that since last January, and today the team truly believed in themselves."
