Alabama
13-3, 2-1
Georgia
12-4, 0-3
Alabama Volleyball Opens Road Trip With 3-1 Win Over Georgia
9/30/2016 8:57:00 PM | Volleyball
ATHENS, Ga. - Alabama volleyball opened its weekend road trip with a four-set win over Georgia, taking the first two sets by scores of 32-30 and 25-15 before the Bulldogs rallied to win the third, 21-25, and the Tide won the fourth, 30-28.
Alabama (13-3, 2-1 SEC) won the first two sets before Georgia (12-4, 0-3 SEC) avoided the sweep with a win in the third, snapping a streak of 13-straight sets won by the Tide over the Bulldogs. The fourth went past 25 points but Alabama held on to win, 30-28, and notch its sixth-straight win over Georgia. Krystal Rivers led the Tide offense with 38 kills, tying a career high, along with a .485 hitting percentage. Shannon Mikesky and Abolanle Onipede each posted season highs in blocks with six and four, respectively, while Brittany Thomas was two kills shy of a double-double with eight kills and 11 digs.
Georgia scored the first point of the opening set and briefly led 2-1 before Alabama scored back-to-back points to pull ahead 3-2 and the Tide remained in front for the rest of the first half. A kill by Thomas made it a four-point lead at the halfway mark, 13-9, but the Bulldogs closed the gap and eventually tied it at 14-14 until a service error gave the Tide a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. After two more tie scores, Georgia retook the lead, 17-16, and added two more points to its lead before Alabama took a timeout trialing 19-16. The Tide rallied to tie it at 21-21 and eventually retake the lead on a kill by Mikesky, 23-22, before the Bulldogs took its final timeout. Alabama hit set point first, 24-23, but Georgia rallied to pull ahead 25-24 and force the Tide into a late timeout. Georgia would hit set point four more times but Alabama held strong to eventually win the lengthy set, 32-30.
After five tie scores early in set two, Alabama started to pull away as the teams neared the halfway mark. Leading 11-9, the Tide scored four-straight points to lead 15-9 at the media timeout and a block after the break stretched it to five unanswered points before a service error ended the streak with Alabama up 16-10. Georgia took its first timeout of the set trailing 20-11 and its second facing the same nine-point deficit, 23-14. Alabama eventually won the set, 25-15, to take a 2-0 match lead at intermission.
Georgia came out strongly after intermission, leading 7-2 as Alabama took an early timeout and then rallied with four-straight points to draw within one, 7-6, with Georgia taking its own timeout. The Tide took it second timeout trailing 16-12 and would face a five-point deficit at set point, 24-19. Kills by Thomas and Rivers kept the set going and drew Alabama within three points as Georgia took a timeout still at set point, 24-21. The Bulldogs would win it on the next point, 25-21, to avoid the sweep.
An early 6-3 lead by Georgia in set four was quickly erased with six-straight points by the Tide to flip the lead in Alabama's favor, 9-6. The Tide remained in front at Georgia's first timeout, 13-8, and extended the lead to seven points at the Bulldogs' second timeout, 19-12. Three quick points by Georgia cut Alabama's lead to 19-15 as the Tide took a timeout. Alabama reached match point, 24-20, but Georgia kept the match alive with three-straight points to force a late Tide timeout. The Bulldogs kept rolling after the break, reaching set point after back-to-back scores, 25-24, but a challenged call on the next point went in Alabama's favor to tie it at 25-25. After three more tie scores down the stretch, Alabama eventually held on to win, 30-28, and seal the 3-1 match victory.
Next up, Alabama faces Mississippi State (9-7, 1-1 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. CT in Starkville, Miss. The match will be broadcast live on the SEC Network with Melissa Lee and Bailey Webster on the call.
For the latest information on Alabama volleyball, follow the team on Twitter (@AlabamaVball), Instagram (AlabamaVball) and Facebook.
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