Alabama
Florida
Volleyball Falls to No. 7 Florida, 3-0, Friday in Gainesville
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Fresh off the team's first Top 25 win since 2007, Alabama could not make it two-straight ranked wins as the Crimson Tide fell to Florida, 3-0, on the road Friday night.
Alabama (19-6, 7-4 SEC) was limited to a season-low .169 hitting percentage while Florida (19-3, 13-0 SEC) hit .360 as a team, led by Alex Holston with 16 kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Krystal Rivers led the Tide offense with 12 kills and four blocks, while Brittany Thomas was close behind with eight kills and seven digs. Sierra Wilson set 26 assists with Katherine White and Leah Lawrence stuffing three blocks each at the middle.
Florida took the momentum right away, surging ahead 11-5 in the opening frame as Alabama called a timeout. A pair of kills and a service ace gave the Gators three-straight points as the Tide quickly burned its final timeout, trailing 14-5. Florida would go on to score three more unanswered points before Alabama finally scored a point off a service error with the Gators leading 17-6. Florida would hold the double-digit lead and eventually win the set by 12 points, 25-13.
The second set was more tightly-contested than the first, as the teams battled through 11 tie scores and four lead changes. The first of those lead changes came at 9-9, as a kill by Thomas gave the Tide its first lead of the match, 10-9. The teams continued to battle back and forth until, tied at 16-16, the Gators rattled off four unanswered points to pull ahead 20-16. Florida would reach set point, 24-22, and a kill by Rivers drew the Tide within one but an Alabama service error ended it as Florida won by two, 25-23.
Alabama jumped to an early 4-1 lead, but Florida came back to lead, 10-6, as the Tide took a timeout. The Tide would draw back within two, down 11-9, but the Gators would use an 8-2 run to pull ahead 19-11. Each team would score five points as Florida reached match point, 24-16, but the Tide would score four unanswered points to draw within four, 24-20, to force the Gators to take a timeout.
On Sunday, Nov. 9, Alabama will head to Columbia, S.C., to face the South Carolina Gamecocks (15-9, 5-6 SEC) at 3 p.m. CT live on the SEC Network. This will be the second meeting of the teams this season, as Alabama defeated South Carolina, 3-1, earlier this season in Tuscaloosa.
