Alabama
Clemson
Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller over Clemson
9/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2013
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Alabama volleyball team won a thrilling five-set match, 3-2 (25-19, 25-15, 20-25, 36-38, 15-13) over the Clemson Tigers in the Clemson Classic on Friday night from Jervey Gym. Krystal Rivers paced the Crimson Tide with a season-high 25 kills and Brittany Thomas added 22.
With the win, Alabama (9-2) has won seven straight matches and returns to the court on Saturday, Sept. 21, when it plays Delaware at 9 a.m. CT. Later on Saturday, the Tide will close the Clemson Classic with a 3:30 p.m. CT match against Troy from the Jervey Gym.
After dropping the fourth set 36-38, the Tide overcame an 11-9 deficit in the fifth set to defeat the Tigers (5-4) in front of rowdy crowd of 1,204 fans at Jervey Gym. After a service error by Clemson made the score 11-10, Alabama got a kill by Rivers to even the set at 11-11. An error by Bama followed then back-to-back kills by Rivers and Thomas gave the Tide a 13-12 advantage. After another hitting error by the Tide, kills by Thomas and Rivers, respectively, secured the final points in a great team win for the Tide.
Rivers, a redshirt freshman, and Thomas, a true freshman, combined for 47 of Alabama's 81 kills and 117 of the Tide's 200 attempts in the match, as both set new season highs with 25 and 22 kills respectively. Thomas also recorded her third double-double with a career-high 16 digs.
Andrea McQuaid had a good hitting night from the right side, connecting for a .471 hitting percentage with 10 kills and one error on 17 attempts. McQuaid also had three of the Tide's five aces in the match. Laura Steiner added 13 kills and Katherine White chipped in with nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
Sierra Wilson dished out a career-high 73 assists for the sixth most assists in a match in Alabama history. The 73 assists also gives her 1,738 for her career to move ahead of Kenna Milner (1,728) for sixth all-time at the Capstone.
Kryssi Daniels led the team with a career-high 20 digs, Bria Green had a career-high 10 digs and Caitlin Bernardin reached double figures with 10 digs as well.
Clemson's Moneshia Simmons had a double-double with 23 kills and 10 digs, Leah Perri had 12 kills and Karis Watson added 11. Kristin Faust had a match-high 28 digs.
Alabama jumped out to an early lead in the match, winning the first set 25-19, behind five kills by Rivers and four each from McQuaid and Thomas. UA controlled the second set from wire-to-wire, and took a 2-0 lead in the match following a 25-15 victory.
After the break, Alabama held a 5-2 lead to start the third set, only to see Clemson rally back for a 12-10 lead. After Alabama evened the score at 14-14, the Tigers went on a 3-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. The Tide got within one (18-17) before the Tigers stretched its lead to 22-17 with four straight points, before taking the set 25-20.
In the epic fourth set, Clemson eventually won set 38-36. The fourth set saw the score tied 28 times and the lead change hands seven times. Alabama served for the match three times in the set, while the Tigers held set point 10 times before winning the set on the 11th opportunity with an ace by Beta Dumancic.
In the fifth set, the lead changed three times and the score was tied sixth times. Alabama led 8-5 when the teams switched sides, then Clemson ran off five straight points for a 10-8 advantage. With the Tigers leading 11-9 in the set, Alabama rallied for six of the final eight points to close out the win.
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