Alabama
Missouri
Alabama Volleyball Falls to Missouri in Five Sets Wednesday Night
10/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Alabama volleyball was on the wrong end of a five-set comeback Wednesday night on the road, as the Tide squandered a 2-1 match lead to Missouri, who battled to wins in the fourth and fifth sets to defeat Alabama, 3-2.
Alabama (10-13, 4-5 SEC) hit a scorching .439 as a team in the opening set, scoring 35 points in the lengthy set victory. The 35 points was the most scored by the Tide since doing so last season on Sept. 28 at home against LSU. Alabama's offense was stifled in the second, falling 25-20, before rebounding with another lengthy set win in the third, 27-26. Missouri would win set four, 25-19, to force a deciding fifth which it won, 15-10, to complete the comeback over Alabama. The loss was Alabama's first when featured on the SEC Network, snapping a nine-match winning streak on the network.
Krystal Rivers led the offensive effort for Alabama with a career-high 30 kills and a team-leading .355 hitting percentage, adding 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Sierra Wilson finished one dig shy of her own double-double, ending the match with 65 assists and nine digs, marking the fifth time this season she has surpassed the 60 assist mark. Natalie Murison led the back-row defense with 17 digs while five different players recorded a service ace, led by Rivers with two.
Missouri (19-3, 7-2 SEC) hit .303 as a team in the match with Carly Kan and Kira Larson leading the team with 16 and 15 kills, respectively.
The teams exchanged the lead five times early in the opening set, with the fifth putting Missouri on top 8-7. The Tigers continued its run with three more unanswered points to take an 11-7 lead as Alabama took its first timeout. Missouri scored two more points out of the break before Alabama responded to end the streak with a kill by Rivers to make it 13-8. Later, with the same five-point lead, a kill by Alyssa Munlyn and a block by Kan stretched Missouri's lead to seven points as Alabama took its final timeout trailing 18-11. The Tigers eventually reached set point, 24-20, but a kill by Emily Stebbins and back-to-back Missouri attack errors allowed the Tide to draw back within one and a Missouri ball-handling error following a timeout tied up the set at 24-24 as Missouri quickly burned its second timeout. Alabama reached set point six times down the stretch in set one, finally breaking through with a kill by Brittany Thomas to win, 35-33.
Missouri scored the first point of set two and held the lead until Rivers put the Tide in front 12-11 with a service ace. Alabama held onto its slim one-point lead at the media timeout, 15-14, but Missouri quickly retook the lead with back-to-back points to make it 16-15. Later, back-to-back points by Missouri stretched its lead to three points as Alabama took a timeout trailing 22-19. Missouri would reach set point, 24-20, and a block up the middle gave the Tigers the win, 25-20, to even the match at 1-1.
Tied at 4-4 in set three, a 6-2 run by Alabama made it a 10-6 game, capped by a hard kill from Laura Steiner off an overpass, as Missouri took a timeout. After the break, Alabama scored three-straight points before Missouri responded, making the score 13-7. Three more unanswered points by the Tigers cut the Tide's lead to three points and forced a timeout to try and stop the momentum. Missouri would draw within one point multiple times and Alabama held the Tigers at arm's length until Missouri eventually moved in front, 19-18. The lead was short-lived however, as a rotation error gave Alabama a 20-19 lead and a solo block by Leah Lawrence made it 21-19 as Missouri took a timeout. After two tie scores, a Missouri block gave the Tigers a 23-22 lead as the Tide took its final timeout late in the set. Missouri reached set point first, 24-23, but a kill by Rivers tied it up at 24-24 and force the teams past the 25-point mark for the second time in the match. Laura Steiner's seventh kill of the set gave Alabama set point, 27-26, and an ace by Kryssi Daniels secured the 28-26 win to move Alabama up 2-1 in the match.
The teams were evenly matched early in set four, with eight tie scores by the time the score was only 10-10. The back and forth continued with Missouri holding a slim two-point lead at the media timeout, 15-13, and the Tigers continued to widen its lead, eventually pulling ahead 19-15 as Alabama took its first timeout of the set. The Tigers continued its run out of the break, scoring three-straight points to pull ahead 22-15 as the Tide took its final timeout. Missouri would hold on to win set four, 25-19, and force a deciding fifth set.
Tied at 4-4 in set five, a 4-1 run gave Missouri the three-point lead at the halfway mark as the teams switched sides. A block stretched the Tigers' lead to four points but a kill by Lawrence and a Missouri attack error narrowed it to two points as the Tigers took a timeout leading 9-7. The lead stretched back out to four points, capped by a Missouri service ace as Alabama took a timeout trailing 12-8. The Tide took its final timeout soon thereafter, trailing 13-9, and Missouri would hold on to win the set, 15-10, and complete the five-set comeback.
Next up, Alabama hits the road for another match on the SEC Network, taking on the Arkansas Razorbacks (13-5, 3-3 SEC) in Fayetteville on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. CT.
