Alabama
Arkansas
Volleyball Falls 3-1 to Arkansas on Sunday
9/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Despite a career-high 21 kills from sophomore Kayla Fitterer, the volleyball team lost 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20) to the Arkansas Razorbacks Sunday in the CAVE. The Crimson Tide's record now stands at 8-5 overall and 0-3 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Razorbacks saw their record rise to 8-7 on the season and improved their conference record to 2-2.
"I thought Kayla Fitterer had a breakout weekend," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "To win in this league you have to have outside hitters that can hit, however we did not pass the ball well at all today. From here, we need to learn from our mistakes and move on. We have put ourselves in a pretty tough place now being down 0-3 in the SEC. It is only going to get harder and harder for us until we become consistent on a daily basis."
Joining Fitterer with double-digit kills was senior Alyssa Meuth with 11. Senior Kayla Schmidt contributed 26 assists, and sophomore Kelsey Anderson scooped up a team-high 13 digs.
The first set was close throughout the early stages until Arkansas benefitted from a series of Alabama errors to take hold of the lead. The Tide closed the gap to 11-10 before the Razorbacks won seven of the next eight points to gain a commanding advantage. Alabama's rally, led by Fitterer's six kills, fell short in the end when a kill from Arkansas sophomore Jasmine Norton ended the set 25-21.
Alabama broke open a tied second set with three consecutive kills by Meuth, redshirt sophomore Leigh Moyer and Fitterer to take a 15-12 lead. The Tide never looked back and increased its lead to 20-15 before cruising to a 25-21 victory. Alabama finished the set on back-to-back kills by Fitterer.
The Tide began the third set with six kills in the first eight points, but the Razorbacks came back to tie the frame at 9-9. Arkansas continued to outscore Alabama earning 14 of the next 20 points to claim a 23-15 lead. The Razorbacks finished the set on a kill from Norton to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Fitterer's career high in kills came with her second strike of the fourth set to level the score at 6-6. The teams would trade points until Arkansas ran off four straight to ignite an 8-1 run that gave it a 19-13 lead. Fitterer recorded a few more kills, but in the end Arkansas ended the set and match 25-20.
The Razorbacks narrowly out-hit the Tide in the match claiming a .289 overall attack percentage to Alabama's .246; however the Tide collected six more kills in the match with 57 compared to Arkansas' 51. The Razorbacks were dominant at the net recording 10.5 blocks, while Alabama tallied 3.0 for the match.
Next up, the Tide hits the road to take on Georgia and Auburn. Alabama and Bulldogs will meet Friday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. CT in Athens, while the match between the Tide and Tigers is slated for Sunday, Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m. CT in Auburn.
