Alabama
10-2
Presbyterian College
2-11
Alabama Volleyball Stretches Win Streak to Seven With a Pair on Saturday
9/17/2016 9:32:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama capped its weekend at the Crimson-White Tournament with a pair of wins over Presbyterian and Georgia Southern, stretching the team's current win streak to a season-best seven matches.
Alabama (11-2) opened the day with a tough five-set win over Presbyterian (2-11) before sweeping Georgia Southern (7-8) in the weekend finale. Between the two matches, Krystal Rivers and Brittany Thomas led the offense attack with 27 and 25 kills, respectively. Hayley McSparin posted a team-leading eight blocks on the day, including three solo blocks, and Thomas led the defensive effort in the back row as well with 34 digs.
For their efforts over the weekend, Thomas and Quincey Gary were named to the All-Tournament team while Rivers was named the Crimson-White Tournament MVP.
MATCH ONE: ALABAMA 3, PRESBYTERIAN 2
Alabama found itself in a battle to open Saturday action at the Crimson-White Tournament, winning the first two sets against Presbyterian before dropping the next two and winning a narrow fifth set to escape the late threat by the Blue Hose.
The win marked head coach Ed Allen's 600th career win, 105 of which have come during his tenure at Alabama. Thomas posted her first double-double of the season, leading the team with a season-high 17 kills and career-high 21 digs. Mahalia Swink, making her second start of the season, finished with 12 kills while Rivers and Leah Lawrence tied with 10 each. Eight service errors hurt the Tide's scoring efforts though the team did see service aces from six different players throughout the match.
Alabama got off to an 8-3 start in set one but Presbyterian continued to fight back and eventually tie it at 12-12 and take a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. The Blue Hose continued to extend its lead, pulling ahead 21-17 at the Tide's first team timeout but Alabama rebounded with a 4-1 run out of the break to draw within one, down 22-21 as Presbyterian took its own timeout. An ace by Gary tied the set up late at 23-23, forcing Presbyterian to quickly take its second timeout, and an extended rally ended with the Tide reaching set point, 24-23. The teams continued to battle well past the 25-point mark with Alabama eventually powering through to win, 31-29.
Alabama started strong again in set two, leading 8-3 at Presbyterian's first timeout. The Blue Hose scored a point after the break to draw within four but the Tide responded with six unanswered points before Presbyterian took its second timeout down 14-4. Alabama scored two more points to extend the streak to eight-straight before the Blue Hose would finally score a point. Presbyterian would only draw as close as nine points down the stretch as Alabama remained in front to eventually win 25-13 and take a 2-0 match lead at intermission.
Tied at 5-5 in set three, Presbyterian rattled off five-straight points to move ahead 10-5 with Alabama taking an early timeout. The Tide would fight back within three points as an out-of-rotation call on PC made the score 17-14 but the Blue Hose would charge ahead to set point, 24-16. The Tide would threaten late with four-straight points to make it 24-20 but Presbyterian would end it with a kill to win, 25-20, and avoid the sweep.
The two teams battled back and forth to start set four, with Alabama holding the slight 15-13 edge at the media timeout. The Blue Hose would regain the lead and pull ahead 19-16 to force the Tide to take its first team timeout. Presbyterian would remain in front but the lead was cut down to just one point, 22-21, and the Blue Hose looked to regroup with a timeout as the Tide held possession. Presbyterian would hold on for the 25-22 win to force a deciding fifth set.
A pair of service aces helped Alabama build an early lead in set five, with a kill by Thomas making it 8-5 at the halfway point of the frame. Later with the score 11-7, Presbyterian would capitalize on three-straight errors by Alabama to draw within one, 11-10, as the Tide took a timeout. Back-to-back kills by Thomas after the break made it 13-10 as Presbyterian quickly called its own timeout. Another kill by Thomas gave the Tide set point, 14-10, but Presbyterian would keep the set alive with three-straight points as Alabama took a timeout up 14-13. A kill by Rivers would end it as the Tide narrowly won, 15-13, to take the five-set victory.
MATCH TWO: ALABAMA 3, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 0
Alabama needed just three sets to dispatch Georgia Southern in the weekend finale, winning by set scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21.
The Tide hit .294 as a team in the sweep, led by a season-best .571 from Lawrence while Rivers led the team with 17 kills and just four errors on 42 swings for a .310 hitting percentage. Thomas finished two kills shy of her second double-double of the day, earning eight kills and 13 digs, leading the team in the latter category.
Tied at 6-6 early in set one, three kills and a service ace pushed Alabama ahead 10-6 as Georgia Southern took its first timeout. The Eagles would fight back and draw within one point four times but could not tie the set as the Tide cruised ahead to a 25-20 victory.
Set two was a tightly-contested affair through the first half, with six tie scores and a slim two-point lead for Alabama at the media timeout, 15-13. Back-to-back points for the Tide after the break made it 17-13 and the Eagles looked to regroup with a team timeout, its first of the frame. The margin remained the same at Georgia Southern's second timeout with Alabama up 21-17 and the Tide would win the set by the same four-point margin, 25-21, to lead the match 2-0 at intermission.
Alabama came out of the locker room with a scorching start to the third set, pulling ahead 6-1 as Georgia State was forced to take an early timeout. Georgia Southern drew within one point twice before tying it at 14-14 and then taking a 15-14 lead, its first of the set. The lead was short-lived as the Tide quickly regained the momentum with four-straight points, up 18-15 at the Eagles' second timeout. Georgia Southern would draw within one point again, down 18-17, but Alabama would hold steady down the stretch to win, 25-21, and complete the sweep.
Next weekend, Alabama opens SEC play with a pair of home matches against ranked opponents. The Tide faces No. 16 Texas A&M on Friday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. CT and returns on Sunday, Sept. 25 to face No. 7 Florida at 12 p.m. CT. Both matches will air live on the SEC Network.
For the latest information on Alabama volleyball, follow the team on Twitter (@AlabamaVball), Instagram (AlabamaVball) and Facebook.
