Alabama
Kentucky
Volleyball Loses in Three at Kentucky
10/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Alabama volleyball team closed a difficult Southeastern Conference weekend road trip with a 3-0 (12-25, 8-25, 17-25) at Kentucky on Sunday afternoon from Memorial Coliseum. With the loss, Alabama falls to 9-10 overall and 2-6 in SEC action. Kentucky improved to 16-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
On a difficult afternoon at Kentucky, the Wildcats proved to be too much for the Crimson Tide, which was held to a season-low -0.12 hitting percentage. Leading the Tide on Sunday was sophomore outside hitter Shelbi Goode with six kills and a .278 hitting percentage. Goode added a team-high eight digs and Stephanie Riley paced the Tide with 10 assists.
Kentucky's Whitney Billings finished the day with a match-high 11 kills, while Ashley Frazier had nine kills and Lauren O'Conner added eight. Christine Hartmann had 39 assists and Stephanie Klefot had 12 digs to lead all players.
In the opening set, Alabama trailed 6-5 before the Wildcats posted a 14-2 run to take a 19-7 lead to put the set out of reach. UK went on to win the first set 25-12 behind a .290 hitting percentage, while Alabama hit -.108 to start the match.
In the second set, Kentucky posted a 25-8 win, as it hit .548 in the set compared to .040 for the Tide. The final set ended with a 25-17 victory for UK, as Alabama posted just six kills in the set with a .095 hitting mark. The Wildcats hit .240 in the frame, posting 12 kills, seven service aces and two blocks.
Alabama returns to Foster Auditorium for a pair of SEC matches next week. The Crimson Tide will host South Carolina on Friday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., before closing the week with a match against Florida on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m.
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