Alabama
16-6 (3-5SEC)
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Mississippi State
5-16 (1-7SEC)
Alabama Posts Second-Straight Home Sweep, Defeating Mississippi State Wednesday
10/17/2018 8:27:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama posted its second-straight home sweep Wednesday night against Mississippi State, defeating the Bulldogs by set scores of 25-17, 28-26 and 25-15.
A pair of long scoring streaks propelled Alabama (16-6, 3-5 SEC) to an eight-point win in the opening set before Mississippi State (5-16, 1-7 SEC) battled to a close second set, reaching set point before the Crimson Tide avoided the loss with a narrow two-point win. The third set was all Alabama, with the Tide cruising to a double-digit win to complete the sweep.
Sophomore Doris Carter posted her fifth double-double of the season, finishing the match with 13 kills and 14 digs. Fellow sophomore Meghan Neelon added her sixth double-double of the season with 32 assists and 10 digs. Junior Mahalia Swink tied for the team lead with 13 kills, hitting .407 with just two errors on 27 swings, and sophomore Kaylee Thomas led the back-row defense with 17 digs.
Senior Quincey Gary finished with nine digs, which moves her to fourth all-time on the Alabama career digs list with 1,269.
With Alabama ahead 5-2 in the opening set, Mississippi State rallied back to take an 8-7 lead. Later trailing 11-9, the Tide scored five in a row to pull back ahead, 14-11. A seven-point swing eventually stretched the lead to 21-13 and each team would score four points down the stretch as Alabama won, 25-17.
The two teams were neck-and-neck to start the second set, with eight tie scores before Mississippi State took a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Alabama charged back after the break with a 5-1 run before the Bulldogs took a timeout now trailing, 18-16. Mississippi State took its second timeout down 20-18 and then scored back-to-back points to tie the set. With the score tied again at 23-23, Alabama took its first timeout and then burned its second after the Bulldogs reached set point, 24-23. Alabama tied it at 24-24 and reached set point three times before breaking through with a solo block from freshman Mylana Byrd to win the frame, 28-26, and take a 2-0 match lead.
Mississippi State built an early 7-4 lead in the third, only for Alabama to come back with a 5-1 run to move ahead 9-8 as the Bulldogs took a timeout. The Tide added four more to stretch its scoring streak to seven-straight, including a pair of service aces from Neelon. Mississippi State spent its final timeout trailing 13-8 and it was all Alabama from that point on, with the Crimson Tide winning by double digits, 25-15, to complete the sweep.
Alabama is back on the road this weekend, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., to face Arkansas Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. CT.
