Alabama
1-0
South Dakota
0-1
Alabama Volleyball Opens Season With 3-1 Win Over South Dakota
8/26/2016 12:53:00 PM | Volleyball
TULSA, Okla. – Alabama volleyball opened its season with a hard-fought four set win over South Dakota in the first match of the Hurricane Classic, rallying from a late deficit in the fourth set to win, 3-1.
Alabama (1-0) won the first two sets before South Dakota (0-1) posted a 25-21 win in the third to avoid the sweep. The Coyotes reached set point twice in the fourth but the Tide avoided the set loss each time, eventually fighting back to win 27-25 and claim the four-set victory.
Redshirt senior Krystal Rivers led all players with 24 kills, hitting .333 with nine digs and a pair of block assists. Junior Leah Lawrence hit .500 with a career-high 15 kills on 24 swings while redshirt freshman Shannon Mikesky notched a double-double in her collegiate debut, finishing the match with 47 assists and 14 digs. Junior Abolanle Onipede and freshman Hayley McSparin also made their Alabama debuts, combining for eight kills.
Alabama scored the first point of the match on a kill by Krystal Rivers but South Dakota held a slim lead for the majority of the opening half of set one, forcing the Tide to take its first timeout facing a five-point deficit, 13-8. Trailing 19-13, Leah Lawrence scored three in a row with a pair of blocks and a kill as South Dakota took a timeout leading 19-16. Three more points out of the break tied the score at 19-19 and a big kill by Abolanle Onipede up the middle gave Alabama the late lead, 23-22, as South Dakota took its final timeout. With the score tied 23-23, a kill by Hutson made it set point and Lawrence secured the 25-23 win with a kill.
A brief 2-1 lead early in set two would be the only one for South Dakota, as Alabama rallied back to retake and hold the lead, eventually stretching it to 14-9 after a Kat Hutson service ace as the Coyotes took a timeout. The five-point deficit remained the same at South Dakota's second timeout, 20-15, and the Tide was the first to reach set point, 24-19. The Coyotes rattled off a pair of points before a service error gave the Tide the 25-21 victory in set two.
The teams battled through a close set three that included nine tie scores, though the lead only changed three times. Tied at 17-17, South Dakota would score four unanswered points to pull ahead 21-17 as Alabama took its first timeout of the set. The Coyotes continued to surge ahead following the break, eventually reaching set point, 24-19, as the Tide took its final timeout. Alabama would get back two more points but South Dakota held on to win set three, 25-21, and take the match to a fourth set.
Alabama started set four on a 4-0 run but South Dakota eventually battled back to tie it at 9-9 and take its first lead at the halfway point, 12-11. The lead swung back in the Tide's favor after a kill by Brittany Thomas made it 16-15 but it was short-lived as the Coyotes pulled back ahead, 20-16, with Alabama taking its final timeout of the set. A 6-3 run by Alabama would draw the Tide within one point as the Coyotes burned both its timeouts in the process, taking the final one with a 23-22 lead. South Dakota reached set point twice in the closing points of set four, but Alabama staved off the loss twice and held on to win, 27-25, and secure the 3-1 match victory.
Alabama continues action at the Hurricane Classic later tonight, facing tournament hosts Tulsa at 7 p.m. CT at the Reynolds Center.
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