Alabama
Georgia
Volleyball Sweeps Georgia, 3-0, Sunday in Tuscaloosa
11/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama extended its record to 22-6, following a 3-0 win over Georgia Sunday afternoon at Foster Auditorium.
In the victory, Alabama (22-6, 10-4 SEC) hit .326 as a team while holding Georgia (12-15, 4-11 SEC) to a .107 clip. Alabama's best hitting percentage came in set three at .346 to close out the sweep. The Crimson Tide dominated the entire match, as Georgia's only lead of the match was a 1-0 lead in the second set.
Leading the way for the Tide individually were Kat Hutson, Brittany Thomas, and Krystal Rivers with 10 kills each. Hutson and Thomas posted a .348 hitting percentage, while Rivers added a team-leading seven digs. Sierra Wilson led the team with 30 assists, which puts her just three assists away from reaching 4,000 career assists. Leah Lawrence knocked in six kills while adding a season-high three service aces.
Tied at 4-4 in set one, Alabama knocked in seven unanswered points to build a sizeable 11-4 lead. The Tide kept increasing the lead, eventually moving ahead by double digits up 20-10 off a kill by Hutson as Georgia burned its final timeout. Alabama maintained the 10-point lead, up 23-13 as back-to-back aces by Lawrence closed out the set with Alabama winning 25-13.
Georgia scored the first point of set two off a kill by Lauren Teknipp, but a kill by Rivers and an ace by Hutson quickly gave the Tide back the 2-1 lead. From there, a 9-5 run allowed Alabama to pull ahead 11-6 as Georgia took its first timeout. A 6-2 run out of the break pushed the lead to 17-8 as Georgia took its final timeout. Each team would score seven more points as it was 24-15 at set point, and a kill by Hutson ended it as the Tide won 25-15 to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
Alabama held a 15-9 lead at the media timeout in set three and each team would score six more points to make it 20-14, before a kill by Hutson gave the Tide a seven-point lead as Georgia took its first timeout. The Bulldogs would narrow the deficit to four points, trailing 22-18, but a service error would make it 23-18 Alabama as Georgia burned its final timeout. A kill by Thomas made it match point but three-straight points by Georgia prevented the Tide from closing out the match, forcing Alabama to take a late timeout leading 24-21. A kill by Rivers out of the break ended it as the Tide won set three, 25-21, to complete the sweep.
Next up, Alabama concludes its home stand by hosting Auburn (12-14, 4-10 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 21 in Foster Auditorium at 7 p.m. CT. The Tide won the first meeting between the two teams, sweeping the Tigers on Oct. 22 in Auburn, Ala.
