Alabama
18-7, 5-6SEC
Ole Miss
13-12, 3-8SEC
Alabama Falls to Ole Miss, 3-1, Sunday in Tuscaloosa
10/28/2018 7:46:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball dropped a hard fought four-set battle Sunday evening to Ole Miss, winning the first set 30-28 before falling in the subsequent three 22-25, 21-25 and 19-25.
Alabama (18-7, 5-6 SEC) and Ole Miss (13-12, 3-8 SEC) were neck-and-neck statistically, with the Rebels holding a slim .256-.231 edge on offense while kills, digs and blocks were within five of each other.
Four Crimson Tide players were in double figures in kills, led by junior Mahalia Swink with 19 and a .342 hitting percentage. The Bakersfield, Calif., native also added 16 digs for her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Doris Carter also tallied a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs along with a .300 clip. Senior Quincey Gary led the back-row defense with 29 digs, putting her eight away from third place on Alabama's career digs list.
A run of four-straight points early in set one helped push Alabama's lead to 8-3 before Ole Miss called a timeout. The Rebels managed to fight back and tie it at 9-9 but junior Ginger Perinar put the Tide back ahead with three-straight kills to make it 12-9. A 4-2 run afterwards further extended Alabama's lead to 16-11 and Ole Miss was forced to burn its final timeout. The Tide remained ahead by five later before the Rebels cut the lead to two at Alabama's first timeout, 22-20. The Tide reached set point three points later, 24-21, but the Rebels rallied to tie it at 24-24, forcing another Alabama timeout. Ole Miss reached set point four times but could not put it away, allowing Alabama to take a 29-28 lead on a kill from freshman Mylana Byrd and cap the 30-28 win on a kill from Perinar.
Ole Miss held the early momentum in set two, holding off the Tide at a pair of tie scores to lead 12-8 at the halfway mark. A 6-1 run from Alabama, capped by a service ace from Gary, put the Tide ahead 14-13 before a kill from Swink made it a two-point game at the media timeout. Back-to-back points after the break extended Alabama's scoring run to six-straight and Ole Miss took a team timeout now trailing 17-13. Ole Miss charged back to draw within one at 19-18 but consecutive kills put Alabama back ahead 21-18 and the Rebels spent their final team timeout. Ole Miss drew back within one point again and Alabama called a late timeout leading 22-21 and then burned its second two points later trailing 23-22. The Rebels closed it out with consecutive points to win, 25-22, and even the match at 1-1.
After seven tie scores early in the third, a 3-0 run from Ole Miss put the visitors ahead 12-9 before Alabama called its first timeout. The Rebels maintained its three-point lead, eventually moving ahead by four at the Tide's next timeout, 17-13. The lead eventually stretched to six, 21-15, but a kill and block from senior Cidavia Hall helped spark some energy and Ole Miss took a timeout now leading 21-17. The Rebels held on to win the set, 25-21, and take a 2-1 match lead.
An early 3-0 run put Ole Miss ahead 7-3 in the fourth and it was a five-point game at Alabama's first timeout, 11-6. Later with the lead still at five, the Tide scored three unanswered, including a pair of service aces from Gary, to make it 15-13 and the Rebels took a timeout. Alabama took its final timeout trailing by five, 20-15, and the deficit would remain the same at set point, 24-19. A kill on the next rally ended the set as Ole Miss held on to win the match.
Next weekend, Alabama hosts a pair of home matches at Foster Auditorium, starting Friday, Nov. 2 against Georgia at 7 p.m. CT before returning Sunday, Nov. 4 to face LSU at 1 p.m. CT.
