Alabama
Kentucky
Alabama Volleyball Falls to Kentucky, 3-0
10/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama volleyball fell 3-0 to Kentucky Friday night at Foster Auditorium.
Alabama (9-12, 3-4 SEC) got off to a slow start against Kentucky (14-6, 7-1 SEC), losing the first set 25-15 before the Crimson Tide would fight to a close finish in the second set, falling to the Wildcats 25-22. The visitors would secure the sweep with a 25-18 win in set three. Bruna Evangelista led the Tide with a .333 hitting percentage while Krystal Rivers and Kat Hutson were in double-digit kills with 14 and 10, respectively. Sierra Wilson paced the offense with 29 assists while also tying for the team lead in digs with six along with Hutson.
Tied at 3-3 early in set one, a 7-2 run by the Wildcats made it a five-point game with the Tide taking a timeout down 10-5. The two teams traded points back and forth as Kentucky was able to hold its five-point lead, eventually extending it to six on a service ace as Alabama burned its final timeout down 19-13. Kentucky would reach set point, 24-14, and a service error would give Alabama back possession but a kill by Kaz Brown on the next rally ended it as the Wildcats took the 10-point win, 25-15.
A 3-0 start for Kentucky in the second set forced Alabama to take its first timeout very early, but the Tide rebounded the claw away at the deficit and eventually tie it just past the halfway point, 14-14, as Kentucky took a timeout. A kill by Brittany Thomas after the break gave Alabama its first lead of the match, 15-14, but it was short-lived as Kentucky eventually came back to retake the lead, 19-18. Kentucky took a 23-20 lead as Alabama took its last timeout and the Wildcats would eventually win the set by the same three-point margin, 25-22.
After five tie scores had the team knotted up at 6-6, Kentucky would begin to pull away as they moved ahead 15-10 at the media timeout. An ace and a kill after the break extended the margin to seven points as Alabama took its first timeout. A kill by Rivers, an ace by Leah Lawrence and a block by Thomas and Evangelista cut the gap to four points as Kentucky took its own timeout. Alabama scored a pair of points after the break to draw back within two, 17-15, but Kentucky pulled back away with a 5-1 run to make it 22-16 as Alabama took its final timeout. Each team would score two points as the Wildcats reached set point, 24-18, and a kill by Anni Thomasson ended it as Kentucky won, 25-18, to secure the sweep.
Next up, the Tide will take on the Georgia Bulldogs (5-12, 0-5 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. CT live on the SEC Network.
