Alabama
#21 Kentucky
Alabama Volleyball Falls in Four Sets to Kentucky
10/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Alabama volleyball fell in four tightly-contested sets on the road to Kentucky Sunday afternoon, avoiding the sweep with a win in the third set but ultimately falling short in the fourth.
Alabama (7-10, 1-2 SEC) was led offensively by Kat Hutson's 20 kills, her second-highest output of the season, while also finishing with her second-highest hitting percentage of the season at .357. Brittany Thomas earned her ninth double-double of the year with 12 kills and 13 digs and Emily Stebbins, making just her second start of the year, posted a career-best and team-leading four blocks along with eight kills. Sierra Wilson tallied 43 assists, bringing her career total to 5,066 which is just 512 shy of the school record.
Kentucky (11-5, 4-0 SEC) was led by Darian Mack and Brooke Morgan with 12 kills each, while Kaz Brown was a strong force at the net with nine blocks.
The two teams battled back and forth to open set one, when a kill by Leah Lawrence off an overpass and a service ace by Hutson gave Alabama a 12-10 lead as Kentucky took a timeout. Kentucky regained the lead at 14-13 and would maintain a two-point cushion, forcing Alabama to take a timeout trailing 20-18. The Wildcats would double its lead late as the Tide took a timeout trailing 23-19 and Kentucky would close out the win with back-to-back points, defeating Alabama 25-19.
A kill by Stebbins off an overpass gave the Tide an early 2-1 lead in the second set, but the Wildcats quickly responded with four unanswered points to pull ahead 5-2 as Alabama took an early timeout. The run continued after the break, as Kentucky scored two points before Alabama responded with a kill by Stebbins to make it 7-3. The Wildcats continued to extend its lead, eventually pulling ahead 11-4 before the Tide was forced to burn its final timeout. Kentucky continued on to take a double-digit lead, 16-6, but Alabama responded with a 7-2 run to cut the lead in half as the Wildcats took a timeout leading 18-13. Kills by Hutson, Thomas and Stebbins after the break extended the Tide's scoring streak to six-straight points as Kentucky quickly burned its second timeout with the score at 18-16. The Tide would cap its scoring streak at eight-straight points, tying the set at 18-18, and it would remain neck-and-neck down the stretch with the teams going past the 25-point mark as Kentucky held on to win, 27-25, and take a 2-0 match lead into intermission.
Kentucky ran away with the early momentum in set one, scoring seven unanswered points to pull ahead 8-1. Alabama kept chipping away at the deficit, eventually drawing within two, 11-9, as Kentucky took its first timeout. The Tide kept fighting to tie the set at 13-13 and eventually take the lead, 15-14, on an ace by Krystal Rivers. The two teams traded the lead down the stretch and Kentucky eventually reached match point, 24-22, but Alabama rallied to score back-to-back points and tie the set at 24-24 as the Wildcats took a timeout. A kill by Thomas gave Alabama set point and another kill by her sealed the set victory as the Tide came back to win the set, 26-24, and avoid the sweep.
The two teams were evenly matched to open the fourth set, as neither would lead by more than one point until Kentucky pulled ahead 11-9 near the midway point. The Wildcat lead remained the same at the media timeout, 15-13, but the Tide eventually rallied to tie it at 19-19 before Kentucky swung back ahead by two, 22-20, as the Tide took a timeout. Kentucky would score another point of out of the break, forcing Alabama to take its final timeout, and then back-to-back points by the Wildcats would end it as they won the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-1.
Alabama resumes play in one week, returning home to face Missouri (13-1, 1-0 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa. The match will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.
