Alabama
16-11, 4-9SEC
Kentucky
21-3, 12-1SEC
Alabama Volleyball Drops Hard-Fought Contest to Seventh-Ranked Kentucky
11/8/2017 9:50:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After falling in the first two sets, Alabama volleyball rallied for hard-fought win in the third over Kentucky but fell in a close fourth set to drop the match, 3-1.
Alabama (16-11, 4-9 SEC) faced an early 0-2 deficit with 15-25 and 23-25 losses in the first two sets to No. 7 Kentucky (21-3, 12-1 SEC) before posting a tough 25-23 win in the third to avoid the sweep. The Tide lead at the 17-point mark in the fourth set but the Wildcats closed strongly to win the frame, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
Sophomore Mahalia Swink led the offense with 14 kills and sophomore Ginger Perinar was also in double digits with 11 kills along with two of the team's six service aces. Freshman Meghan Neelon earned her 10th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 12 digs, tying the team lead in the latter. Senior Leah Lawrence continues to close in on the career blocks record, earning three in the match to put her just five away.
Kentucky took the early lead in set one but Alabama fought back to take its first lead of the match at 10-9. The Wildcats quickly moved back ahead, 11-10, and built a three-point lead at the media timeout, 15-12. A pair of quick points for Kentucky after the break made it 17-12 and Alabama burned its first team timeout to try and halt the momentum. The Tide took its second timeout trailing 20-13 and the Wildcats closed out the frame with a 5-2 run to win by 10 points, 25-15.
After five tie scores early in set two, Alabama would take its first lead of the set, 9-8, on a service ace from Neelon. The Wildcats would tie it at 9-9 but the Tide scored back-to-back points to lead 11-9 and force Kentucky to take a timeout. The Wildcats tied the score four times before retaking the lead, 15-14, and then a 3-1 run extended its advantage to 18-15 before the Tide took its first team timeout. Alabama spent its final timeout after Kentucky reached set point, 24-20, and Tide rallied to make it a one-point game, scoring three in a row capped by a service ace from Lawrence to make it 24-23 as the Wildcats called a timeout. Kentucky closed out the narrow victory in the next rally, scoring a kill to win, 25-23, and take a 2-0 match lead.
Kentucky scored the first point of set three but Alabama quickly responded with four-straight to build an early 4-1 lead. The Wildcats weren't down for long, using a 5-1 run to move back in front by one. A run of four-straight points eventually put Alabama back ahead 10-8 and another ace from Lawrence later made it 12-9 at the halfway mark as Kentucky called a timeout. The teams battled back and forth with three lead changes down the stretch, before a fourth lead change would put Alabama up late off back-to-back kills from Swink and the Wildcats took a timeout now trailing 22-20. The Tide reached set point by the same margin, 24-22, and a Kentucky kill cut the lead to one before Alabama took a timeout. After a lengthy rally in front of a raucous Foster Auditorium crowd, a Kentucky attack sailed wide for an error to give Alabama the 25-23 win and send the match to a fourth set.
Riding the momentum from the previous set, Alabama led early in the fourth set and, despite five tie scores, would not allow Kentucky to move ahead until near the halfway mark, 11-10. The lead was short-lived as the Tide charged back in front 13-11 before the Wildcats called its first timeout. Kentucky would tie the score four more times before finally regaining the lead, 18-17, as Alabama took a timeout. The Wildcats increased its lead to four points at the Tide's next timeout, 22-18, and eventually won 25-19 to claim the four-set victory.
Next up, Alabama welcomes Tennessee (11-11, 4-9 SEC) to Foster Auditorium on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. CT.
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