Alabama
14-8, 2-6SEC
Florida
15-1, 7-1SEC
Alabama Volleyball Falls to Fourth-Ranked Florida, 3-0
10/20/2017 10:12:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball fell in three sets to fourth-ranked Florida Friday night in Foster Auditorium by set scores of 17-25, 18-25 and 17-25.
Alabama (14-8, 2-6 SEC) struggled offensively against No. 4 Florida (15-1, 7-1 SEC), hitting just .058 as a team with sophomores Ginger Perinar and Mahalia Swink as the only players with double-digit kills, earning 12 and 10 respectively. The pair accounted for 22 of the team's 32 kills, with no other player earning more than six kills. Freshman Meghan Neelon earned her team-leading seventh double-double, finishing with 25 assists and 15 digs.
Tied at 2-2 in set one, Florida started to build some distance with a 6-1 run before Alabama called a timeout trailing 8-3. Alabama would draw within three points after scoring four-straight to make it 11-8 but Florida would extend its lead again to 16-9 before the Tide burned its second timeout. A Gator attack error followed by kills from freshman Christine Jarman and senior Leah Lawrence made it a five-point game and Florida took a timeout leading 20-15. Alabama scored two more points following the break to draw within three but Florida closed out the set with five-straight points to win, 25-17.
Alabama took its first lead of the match early in set two after a kill from Jarman made it 3-2. Florida quickly regrouped and pulled back ahead 9-5 before the Tide called its first timeout. Later up 11-8, the Gators added some cushion with a 7-2 run to lead 18-10 at Alabama's second timeout. Florida maintained the eight-point lead at set point, 24-16, and the Tide staved off a set loss with back-to-back points before the Gators ended it with a kill to win, 25-18.
The Tide found itself in front again early in set three, leading 5-3 before momentum swung back the Gators' way with Florida up 13-9 before Alabama took a timeout. The Tide fought back within two points as the Gators took a timeout with the score 14-12 but the visiting team soon surged back ahead by five, 18-13, forcing Alabama to take its final timeout. Leading by five later, 22-17, back-to-back kills gave the Gators set point and, on a no-touch call, Florida challenged the play and it was overturned in their favor as the kill ended the set, 25-17, and completed the three-set sweep.
Next up, Alabama hosts the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-9, 3-4 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. CT live on the SEC Network.
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