Alabama
Samford
Volleyball Falls to Samford on the Road in Five
8/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 30, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the second straight match the Alabama volleyball team played five sets, but this came out on the losing end of a 3-2 (18-25, 25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 14-16) defeat to the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday night from the Pete Hanna Center. With the loss the Crimson Tide falls to 3-1 on the season.
Against the in-state foe Samford (4-0), Alabama dropped the first set of the match before taking sets two and three for a 2-1 lead. However, the Bulldogs responded by winning the fourth set to push the match to the deciding fifth.
Samford won the final set, 17-15, to post its first win in the series in 18 tries. Alabama took a 14-13 lead in the fifth set following a big block by junior middle Leigh Moyer, but the Bulldogs won four of the final five points to win the match, handing Alabama its first loss of the season.
Kayla Fitterer posted her fourth straight double-double with a season-high 30 kills and 13 digs, moving her career total to 16. Fitterer, who had 70 attempts in the match, had a .343 hitting percentage as the Tide closed the night with a .236 hitting mark.
Andrea McQuaid posted her first career double-double with a team and career-high 32 assists to go along with a season-high tying 14 digs. McQuaid also added six kills in the match. Brianne Vande Griend finished the night with 14 kills and a .323 hitting percentage and Shelbi Goode came off the bench to add seven kills while hitting .385. Kelsey Anderson led the Tide with a match-high 26 digs.
Samford finished the match with a .262 hitting percentage as Elizabeth Neisler, Lauren Hutchinson and Katie Murphy combined for 50 of the Bulldogs' 61 kills.
After falling behind 16-8 in the first set, UA closed the deficit to 21-18 before dropping the set by seven points (25-18). Fitterer led the Tide with five kills while Vande Griend hit .429 with three kills in the set. Samford posted six blocks and held UA to .048 hitting percentage in the opening set.
The Crimson Tide evened the match at one set each, taking the second set 25-17. Behind the strength of Fitterer's six kills, UA hit .333 while holding Samford to .129. Bama trailed 3-2 early in the set, but regrouped to hold a 12-4 lead midway through the set. Samford closed the deficit to a little as four points (17-13) before the Tide rallied to close the set with an 8-4 run.
Alabama held off a late push by the Bulldogs to take the third set 25-19. After the Tide held a 20-9 lead, Samford rallied to cut the deficit to 23-19 before the Tide put the set in the books. Fitterer paced UA in the third with eight kills on 14 attempts with no errors. UA hit .483 as a team in the third set.
After Alabama tied the score at 13-13 in the fourth set, the Bulldogs went on a 12-5 run to take the fourth set 25-18, evening the match at 2-2. Fitterer was dominating in the set again for the Tide, recording eight kills on 19 swings, while Goode had three kills, but Alabama hit .184 in the set.
Alabama returns to action on Friday, Sept. 2 against the Lamar Cardinals in the Doubletree Invitational hosted by SMU. The Tide's opening match of the tournament is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT from Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. UA closes the tournament with matches against TCU (10 a.m. CT) and SMU (7 p.m. CT) on Saturday.
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