Alabama
12-2
Missouri
11-2
Alabama Drops SEC Opener at Missouri Wednesday Night
9/19/2018 9:51:00 PM | Volleyball
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Alabama volleyball dropped its Southeastern Conference opener to Missouri Wednesday night, falling in three sets by scores of 22-25, 18-25 and 26-28.
No. 25 Alabama (12-2, 0-1 SEC) failed to find a rhythm offensively against Missouri (11-2, 1-0 SEC), hitting .056 as a team with no players posting double-digit kills. Senior Quincey Gary led the back-row defense with 12 digs and is now four shy of moving to fifth place on the Crimson Tide's career record list.
After four tie scores early on, Alabama scored back-to-back points to move ahead by two and continued to extend its lead, holding a four-point lead after a block from senior Cidavia Hall and junior Mahalia Swink. Missouri called a timeout following the block, down 12-8, before scoring five straight to take a 13-12 lead as the Tide was forced to call a timeout. Two more unanswered points moved the Tigers in front 15-12 but the teams were soon tied again at 16-16. A kill from junior Ginger Perinar gave Alabama a late 20-19 lead but the home team rattled off four straight to lead 23-20 and the Tide called its second team timeout. Missouri held its three-point lead until the end, winning 25-22.
Alabama scored the first point of set two, but soon fell behind 5-3. A 3-0 run pushed the Tide back ahead 6-5 and Alabama remained in front until a service ace gave Missouri a 13-12 advantage at the halfway mark and the Tigers remained in front at the media timeout, 15-13. The Tide took its first team timeout trailing 18-15 and its second down 21-16. Missouri held on to win the set, 25-18, and take a 2-0 match lead.
The home team maintained its momentum to open the third set, leading 8-4 before Alabama called an early timeout. The Tide soon cut the deficit in half, trailing 10-8 as the Tigers burned a timeout. After each team scored a point, Missouri scored four straight to lead 15-9 before Alabama called its final timeout. The Tigers built a 19-12 advantage but the Tide scored three straight to draw within four, forcing a Missouri timeout. Two more unanswered made it a one-point game, 20-19, but the Tigers jumped back ahead to reach match point, 24-22. Back-to-back points from Alabama tied it at 24-24 and another gave the Tide set point, 25-24. Alabama would reach set point again at 26-25 but Missouri held on to win, 27-25, and complete the sweep.
Next up, Alabama returns home Sunday, Sept. 23 hosting Auburn (7-3, 0-0 SEC) at 1 p.m. CT in Foster Auditorium.
