Alabama
5-2
Tennessee State
4-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee State | 14 | 20 | 20 | 0 |
| Alabama | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Alabama Volleyball Sweeps Friday Opponents in 2017 Home Opener
9/8/2017 11:23:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball swept both of its opponents Friday at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash, defeating Tennessee State in the morning before returning to beat Hofstra in the night cap.
Alabama (6-2) posted a strong opening set performance against Tennessee State (4-5) but fought with the Tigers for two close frames to close out the match. The match against Hofstra (4-5) was flipped, with the Tide and Pride fighting to a neck-and-neck finish in the opening set before Alabama surged ahead for more convincing wins in the second and third sets.
Leah Lawrence led the team in kills and hitting percentage in both matches, ending the day with a combined 22 kills and .486 clip, totaling just four errors on 37 swings. She also led the team with 10 blocks, three solo and seven assisted. Christine Jarman continued her strong freshman campaign, posting 18 kills and 25 digs. Reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week Quincey Gary was a force in the back row, compiling 39 digs over the six sets, and average of 6.50 per set.
MATCH ONE: ALABAMA 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
Alabama volleyball opened action at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash Friday morning with a sweep over Tennessee State, winning by set scores of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-20.
Alabama used a pair of long scoring runs in the opening frame, including eight in a row to close the set, to post a double-digit win over Tennessee State, 25-14. The second and third sets were more tightly-contested with identical scores of 25-20, but the Tide ultimately prevailed to win in straight sets. Lawrence led the offensive effort, hitting .471 with 10 kills. Gary led the back row defense with 16 digs. Lawrence and Mahalia Swink led the team with eight blocks each, tying a season-high for both players.
Tied at 4-4 in set one, Alabama rattled off five-straight points to pull ahead 9-4 and the lead was increased to six points, 11-5, at Tennessee State's first timeout. Later leading 17-14, Alabama closed out the opening frame with eight-straight points to win by double digits, 25-14.
Tennessee State built a slim early lead in set two, 4-2, but the momentum quickly went back in Alabama's favor with six unanswered points to put the Tide on top, 8-4. Alabama maintained its lead at the media timeout, 15-10, and each team scored eight points to keep it a five-point game at set point, 24-19. A service ace by the Tigers drew them within four but Jarman ended it with a kill to give Alabama the 25-20 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Tennessee State took its first lead of set three at 3-2 and Alabama tied the score four times before eventually retaking the lead, 9-8. The Tide remained in front until a 4-0 run by the Tigers pulled them back ahead just past the halfway mark, 16-15. With a slim 21-20 lead late in the frame, Alabama tallied four-straight points to complete the sweep with a 25-20 win in set three.
MATCH TWO: ALABAMA 3, HOFSTRA 0
Alabama volleyball closed Friday action at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash with its second sweep of the day, defeating Hofstra in straight sets by scores of 27-25, 25-17 and 25-19.
Alabama trailed for the majority of the opening set, before staving off set point from Hofstra to eventually win, 27-25. The momentum carried into the following two sets, which the Tide won by eight points and six points, respectively. For the second-straight match, Lawrence led the Tide offense with 12 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Jarman finished with 11 kills and 13 digs, her third double-double of the season, and Gary covered plenty of ground on defense with a team-leading 23 digs.
Hofstra held the early lead in set one, up 7-3 at Alabama's first timeout. The Tide would fight back to tie the score three times but could not take a lead before taking its second timeout of the set, down 19-16. A 4-1 run by Alabama after the break tied it again at 20-20 and there would be four more tie scores down the stretch before Alabama took its first lead in extra points, 26-25, and a block by Swink and Lawrence capped the comeback victory for the Tide, 27-25.
Set two was a back-and-forth contest from the start and Hofstra built its largest lead of the frame at 11-8. Alabama responded with a 7-2 run to lead 15-13 at the media timeout. Leading by two points shortly thereafter, 17-15, a kill by Hayley McSparin and ace by Quincey Gary doubled the lead to four points as Hofstra took a timeout now trailing 19-15. Following the break, Alabama clinched the set victory with a 6-2 run, including a streak of five in a row to end it, winning 25-17 to build a 2-0 match lead.
With the Pride leading 6-4 early in set three, momentum swung back in the Tide's favor with a 7-2 run capped by a pair of kills by Jarman and a kill by McSparin which forced Hofstra to take a timeout down 11-8. Four unanswered points out of the break by Hofstra allowed the Pride to retake the lead, 12-11, but it was short-lived as the Tide fought back to move up 17-14 on a block by Lawrence and Ginger Perinar as Hofstra took its final timeout. The Pride narrowed the gap to two points, forcing the Tide to take a timeout up 20-18. A raucous crowd at Foster Auditorium helped lift the Tide to a strong finish as Alabama used a 5-1 run to win the set, 25-19, and complete its second sweep of the day.
Alabama concludes its weekend at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash facing Furman (4-4) on Saturday, Sept. 9 at noon.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaVBall on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
