Alabama
Mississippi
Volleyball Falls in Three at Mississippi in SEC Opener
9/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2010
OXFORD, Miss. - The volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (30-28, 25-22, 25-23) decision Friday at Mississippi in its Southeastern Conference opener in the Gillom Sports Center. The loss ends the Crimson Tide's seven match win streak and brings Alabama's record to 8-3 overall. With the win, the Rebels improve to 7-3 on the season.
"We will use this match as a teaching point to prove that success is not going to come unless you pay the price every day," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "The result of tonight's match is directly related to the poorest week of practice we have had all season. It was close enough tonight that, had we had a better week of preparation, we would have won. We are very capable of winning this match."
Sophomore Kayla Fitterer led Alabama's hitters with eight kills. She was followed closely behind by senior Alyssa Meuth, who had seven, and freshman Shelbi Goode with six. Both senior Kayla Schmidt and junior Stephanie Riley tallied 13 assists in the match, while sophomore Kelsey Anderson recorded a team-best 15 digs.
Mississippi was able to get on the board first, but Alabama soon took control of the lead with three consecutive points. The Tide edge did not last long as the Rebels put together a 4-1 run to jump back on top. Mississippi held its narrow margin until back-to-back kills, one from Schmidt and another from Fitterer, gave the Tide the 12-11 advantage. The Rebels would go on to score four unanswered points for the largest lead of the set causing Alabama to call timeout. The Tide refused to go away easily and used consecutive blocks to take a 19-18 lead. Mississippi would, once again, take back the lead with a trio of points. The Tide avoided the Rebels' first set-point opportunity with a big block from Meuth and redshirt sophomore Leigh Moyer bringing the score to 24-24. From there, the set would go back and forth until Mississippi was able to throw down a pair of kills to take the first 30-28.
The second remained close in the beginning before four-consecutive kills from the Rebels gave Mississippi a 10-6 lead. Alabama came back to tie the set up at 13-13 and soon took the lead behind the efforts of a 5-0 run. The Tide continued to pace the frame until late when a Rebel kill put the home team on top 21-20. Mississippi outscored Alabama 4-0 down the stretch collecting a pair of kills and a pair of blocks for the 25-22 win.
The Rebels used their momentum to take off on a 4-1 run to open the third, however the Tide hitters came up big over the next several series to give Alabama the 7-6 lead. Mississippi would lead briefly at 10-9 before the Tide rattled off four straight points forcing the Rebels to burn a timeout. Alabama stayed in front until a trio of kills for Mississippi put it back on top 17-16. The duration of the set mirrored the first going back and forth until a pair of errors by the Tide put the match away giving the Rebels the 25-23 win in the third.
Neither team hit well with Alabama finishing at .079 and Mississippi at .143 overall. Combined, there were 48 attack errors and 15 service errors. The Rebels collected 12.0 blocks compared to the Tide's 7.0 rejections.
Next up, Alabama hosts its first pair of SEC home matches when it takes on No. 19 LSU on Friday, Sept. 24 before welcoming Arkansas on Sunday, Sept. 26. Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. CT, while Sunday's contest is slated to begin at 1 p.m. CT. Both will take place in the CAVE.
