Alabama
Virginia
Alabama Volleyball Caps Weekend With Four-Set Win Over Virginia
9/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - With the match split at 1-1 heading into intermission, Alabama gutted out two hard-fought sets to defeat Virginia, 3-1, and end its weekend at the Crimson White Tournament on a winning note.
Alabama (4-6) was led offensively by a pair of .500 hitters, as Laura Steiner and Krystal Rivers finished the night at .524 and .500, respectively, with a combined 25 of the team's 59 kills. Virginia (5-2) held the overall edge in hitting, .291 to .243, but could not contain key runs by the Crimson Tide during the third and fourth sets that provided difficult leads to overcome. Brittany Thomas led the team in kills for the fourth-straight match, knocking in 16 along with a team-leading 15 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. Tabitha Brown also finished the match with double-digit kills at 11 while Sierra Wilson tallied 50 of the team's 53 assists.
For their efforts over the weekend, Steiner and Natalie Murison were both named to the Crimson White All-Tournament Team.
With Alabama holding a slim 11-8 lead near the midway point of set one, Virginia would score six-straight points to pull ahead 14-11 as Alabama took a timeout. Virginia continued to pull ahead, eventually leading 22-16, before the Tide would score three-straight points on kill by Thomas, Rivers and ace by Thomas to make it 22-19 as Virginia hoped to stop the momentum with a timeout. Alabama would continue to fight until the very end, drawing within one on back-to-back service aces by Murison to make it 23-22 as Virginia took its final timeout with a one-point lead. The Tide would continue holding off the Cavaliers, who reached set point four times before Alabama finally pulled through to win, 30-28, and complete the comeback victory in set one.
Alabama held the early 7-3 lead in set two, but the Cavaliers eventually pulled ahead 11-10 and would not fall behind for the remainder of the set. Virginia continued to pull away, leading by five at the 20-point mark and would use a 4-2 run to reach set point 24-17. A kill by All-Tournament team honoree Natalie Bausback would end it as Virginia won, 25-17, to even the match at intermission.
Coming out of the locker room in set three, Alabama got off to a scorching start, taking an 8-2 lead after four-straight points before Virginia would finally answer back. The Tide kept the Cavaliers at arm's distance, leading 17-10 as Virginia took its final timeout. The Cavaliers would briefly draw back within five at two different points in the remainder of the set but that was as close as the match would be, with the Tide continuing on to win by a deciding 25-17 score to take a 2-1 match advantage.
With a 1-4 record in five-set matches this season, Alabama was looking to wrap up the match in the fourth and started to find a rhythm tied at 7-7, taking a 7-3 run to pull ahead 14-10 with Virginia taking its final timeout. Kills by Steiner and Thomas and an ace by Leah Lawrence swelled the lead to 17-10 as the Cavaliers quickly burned their second timeout. A Virginia attack error made it 18-10 before the Cavaliers scored a point to finally snap a seven-point streak by the Tide. With Alabama on top 20-13, three straight points by Virginia would make it a four-point game as Alabama took a timeout. Later, leading 23-18, a kill by Lawrence gave the Tide match point and Brown ended the match by finding the floor on the ensuing serve for an ace as Alabama won the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-1.
Next weekend, Alabama concludes the preseason schedule in DeKalb, Ill., at the Huskie Invitational, hosted by Northern Illinois. The Tide will play three matches starting on Friday, Sept. 18 against Western Kentucky at 11 a.m. CT and the host NIU Huskies at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 19, Alabama will close out the weekend facing Northern Iowa at 1:30 p.m.
