Alabama
Delaware
Volleyball Defeats Delaware 3-1 on Saturday Morning
9/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2013
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Alabama volleyball team ran its streak of consecutive wins to eight matches following a 3-1 (25-17, 20-25, 25-12, 25-17) victory over the Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday morning in the Clemson Classic. The Crimson Tide closes the Clemson Classic with a 3:30 p.m. CT match against the Troy Trojans later today.
Alabama (10-2) got a match-high 17 kills from freshman outside hitter Brittany Thomas. Thomas, who hit .267 against the Blue Hens (7-6), notched her fourth double-double of the season with 13 digs. Krystal Rivers added 13 kills with a .391 hitting percentage and Laura Steiner posted 11 kills while hitting .310.
Sierra Wilson posted her second double-double of the season -the ninth of her career - with 49 assists and 10 digs. Wilson also added a career-high seven kills as she hit 1.000 in the match, going 7-for-7 with no errors. Andrea McQuaid had eight kills, Caitlin Bernardin had 13 digs and Kryssi Daniels had a team-high 16 digs.
As a team, Alabama posted a .331 hitting percentage, while holding the Blue Hens to a .127 mark. UA, which recorded 12 blocks, held Delaware to a .000 hitting percentage in the first and third sets. Rivers had eight total blocks with one solo and seven assisted blocks. Thomas chipped in with four assisted blocks, Steiner had three total blocks (1 solo, 2 assisted) and McQuaid and Katherine White had three assisted blocks each.
In the opening set, the score was tied at 14-14 before Alabama closed the set with an 11-3 run for a 25-17 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. The Tide struggled offensively in the second set, hitting just .133, while allowing Delaware to hit .245. The seven hitting errors in the set were costly for the Tide, who dropped the set 20-25, evening the match at 1-1.
After dropping the second set, Alabama controlled the third set wire-to-wire. The Tide led 10-5 following a kill by McQuaid and the lead reached double digits at 19-9 following a kill by Steiner. From there, UA closed the set with a 6-3 run to open a 2-1 advantage in the match.
In the fourth set, Alabama hit .500, converting 18 of 34 attempts with just one error. Leading the way in the final set was Thomas, who recorded eight of her match-high 17 kills in the fourth.
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