Alabama
LIU Brooklyn
Alabama Falls in Pair of Saturday Matches in Virginia
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Alabama's undefeated streak came to an end Saturday in Virginia, as the Crimson Tide fell in a pair of matches to close out its weekend at the Cavalier Classic.
Alabama (5-2) fell in five sets in Saturday's opener to LIU Brooklyn (3-3) and could not bounce back later over the host Virginia Cavaliers (6-0), who ended the Tide's comeback attempt in the fourth set. Redshirt sophomore Krystal Rivers was named to the All-Tournament team, finishing the weekend with 61 kills including a career-high 29 in the match against LIU Brooklyn. Sierra Wilson finished with 141 assists over 13 sets, an average of 10.8 per set, while Natalie Murison got the nod at the libero position all weekend, leading the defense with 35 digs.
MATCH ONE: LIU BROOKLYN 3, ALABAMA 2
Alabama faced a 2-1 match deficit to LIU Brooklyn after three sets and came storming back with a convincing 25-12 win in the fourth to force a deciding fifth set. The Blackbirds edged out the Tide in the end however, as they rallied from a 13-10 deficit to win, 16-14. Krystal Rivers led the Tide with 29 kills, a new career high for the redshirt sophomore, hitting .390 on the day with 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Kryssi Daniels scored a career-high six service aces while finishing second on the team with 13 digs just behind Brittany Thomas with 14.
Alabama scored the first point of the opening frame, but LIU Brooklyn quickly shifted the momentum in their favor, moving ahead 9-4 before the Tide called a timeout. Alabama would chip away at the lead as four-straight points drew Alabama within two, 17-15, forcing a timeout by the Blackbirds. Alabama kept fighting out of the break, tying it at 20-20 and taking the lead off a Daniels service ace as LIU took its final timeout down 21-20. The Blackbirds hit set point first, 24-23, and the teams battled to extra points with LIU eventually taking the set, 28-26.
Alabama would tie the second set eight times before taking its first lead, as a kill by Rivers put the Tide up 14-13 just past the midway point. Later, trailing 17-16, back-to-back aces by Thomas and a block by Bruna Evangelista and Laura Steiner gave Alabama a 19-17 lead, forcing LIU to take its first timeout. A 5-4 run out of the break made it set point for Alabama, 24-21, as the Blackbirds burned their final timeout. A block by LIU switched possession but a kill by Rivers sealed the set victory as Alabama won, 25-22, to even the match at 1-1.
LIU got off to a scorching start in set three, moving ahead 6-1 as Alabama took its first timeout and then moved further ahead, 12-4, as the Tide quickly burned its final timeout. The Tide would eventually narrow the gap, drawing within four, down 17-13 behind back-to-back points as LIU took a timeout. The lead would remain the same at set point as LIU led 24-20, and an Alabama attack error gave the Blackbirds the 25-20 win and the 2-1 match lead.
With its back against the wall, Alabama came out on fire in the fourth set, blasting ahead 13-5 as LIU looked to catch its breath with a timeout. The Tide kept its foot on the gas out of the break, using a 9-4 run to pull ahead 22-9. LIU Brooklyn would score two points in the closing moments of the set but it was too little, too late as Alabama evened the match with a convincing 25-12 victory.
Alabama scored four of the first five points in the fifth frame, forcing an early LIU timeout. That three-point lead would stand at the mid-set switch, as Alabama led 8-5. The Blackbirds were kept at arm's length as Alabama neared match point, up 13-10. Four unanswered points changed the narrative quickly however, as LIU found itself up at match point with the Tide taking a necessary timeout. A kill by Rivers would tie it up at 14-14 but back-to-back kills by LIU would give them the comeback victory, defeating the Tide 16-14 to win in five.
MATCH TWO: VIRGINIA 3, ALABAMA 1
Looking to end its weekend on a positive note, Alabama rallied from a 2-0 match deficit to take match three and threaten in the fourth against Virginia. A late run by the Cavaliers dashed any hopes of a comeback however, as the Tide suffered its second loss of the season.
Freshman Kat Hutson led all players with 17 kills, hitting .429 with just five errors on 28 swings. Her counterpart on the right side, Krystal Rivers, was second on the team with 15 kills while Brittany Thomas also finished in double digits, knocking in 11 kills with a .417 clip. Alabama's two middle blockers, Leah Lawrence and Bruna Evangelista, combined to hit .416 with 13 kills and eight block assists while Natalie Murison led the defense with 12 digs.
Alabama was right on Virginia's heels for the first set, tying the frame five times tough the Tide was not able to take the lead. With the Cavaliers up by four, 12-8, the Tide chipped away at the lead to eventually draw back even at 17-17. The score was tied back up at 18 points and 19 points, but back-to-back scores for Virginia prompted an Alabama timeout as the home team now led, 21-19. A quick 2-1 run made it a three-point game as Alabama burned its second timeout, down 23-20. A block made it set point for UVA, 24-20, and a kill briefly kept Alabama alive but the Cavaliers answered right back to take the set, 25-21.
A quick 5-0 start for Virginia in the second set forced the Tide to burn an early timeout and the Cavaliers kept Alabama at arm's distance, eventually moving up 16-9 before Alabama was forced to take its final timeout. Facing a seven-point deficit, the Tide stormed back with an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to two points, trailing 19-17 as Virginia took a timeout. Alabama scored back-to-back points out of the break to tie it at 19-19, but the Cavaliers would reach set point first, up 24-20. Wanting to avoid a 2-0 match deficit heading into intermission, Alabama scored three unanswered points off a kill by Hutson and two by Rivers to make it 24-23, forcing a Virginia timeout. The Tide couldn't force extra points however, as an Alabama service error gave Virginia the narrow two-point win, 25-23, and a 2-0 match advantage.
Tied at 2-2 in the third set, Alabama started to pull away with a 10-4 run to take a six-point lead, 12-6. Later up by six, 17-11, a kill by Hutson made it a seven-point game as Virginia took a frustrated timeout. Alabama reached the 20-point mark with a five-point lead and reached set point up by seven, 24-17. A service error briefly kept Virginia in the game but a kill by Bruna Evangelista at the next point gave Alabama the set, 25-18, and made it a 2-1 match.
Neither team could pull away in the early stages of set four, battling back and forth with only as much as a four-point lead separating the teams. Alabama waited patiently to take its first timeout, finally calling a break as Virginia hit the 20-point mark up 20-16. Alabama fought back to within two points after the break, as kills by Hutson, Rivers and Leah Lawrence made it 22-20, with the Cavaliers taking a timeout leading by two. A kill by Thomas made it a one-point game but back-to-back scores for the home team brought up match point, 24-21, as Alabama took its final timeout. Virginia's Lauren Fuller erased Alabama's hope of a comeback as she capped the win with a service ace to take the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
Next weekend, Alabama continues its season in Montgomery, Ala., with three games at the ISTAP Collegiate Cup 2, hosted by Alabama State University. Action begins on Friday, Sept. 12 against Southern Miss (1 p.m. CT) and concludes on Saturday, Sept. 13 against Alabama State (8:30 a.m.) and Towson (1:30 p.m.).
