Alabama
13-4, 1-3SEC
Florida
13-3, 4-0SEC
Crimson Tide Resilient in Three-Set Loss to Gators Sunday in Tuscaloosa
9/30/2018 3:30:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama volleyball battled in a tough three-set loss to 11th-ranked Florida Sunday afternoon at Foster Auditorium, posting set scores of 20-25, 20-25 and 24-26.
Alabama (13-4, 1-3 SEC) played a close match against No. 11 Florida (13-3, 4-0 SEC), with 28 tie scores and 11 lead changes in the match. The Crimson Tide made late pushes in each of the three sets, drawing within two in the second and tying it at 24-24 in the third, but the Gators ultimately earned narrow victories to complete the sweep. Sophomore Doris Carter and freshman Erin Curl led the offense with eight kills each and sophomore Meghan Neelon was one dig shy of a double-double, finishing with nine along with 14 assists.
The opening set was tightly-contested early on but, with the Tide leading 9-7, the Gators regained the lead and started to pull away with a 6-0 run before Alabama took a timeout trailing 13-9. A service ace after the break gave Florida a five-point lead and another later in the frame brought the score to 18-12, forcing the Tide to take its second timeout. Florida reached set point with the same margin, 24-18, and after two Alabama points a kill sealed the 25-20 set victory for the Gators.
The teams battled neck-and-neck in the second set, with nine tie scores and four lead changes before the media timeout, with the Tide leading 15-14. Four quick points put Florida back ahead 18-15 and Alabama called a team timeout. The Tide took its second facing a five-point deficit, 22-17, and then trimmed it to two after a pair of kills and a Gator attack error. The visitors took a timeout with the score 22-20 and then scored three-straight to win, 25-20.
Alabama jumped ahead to an early 5-2 lead in the third, including a pair of service aces, but Florida soon rallied to retake the lead, 7-6, with two of its own aces from the line during its run. Alabama briefly retook the lead at 10-9 but Florida was back ahead at the media timeout, 15-12. The Tide battled back to tie it twice down the stretch and take a 23-22 lead off a kill from junior Hayley McSparin. After a Florida timeout, the Gators scored back-to-back points to reach set point, 24-23, as Alabama took timeouts following each point. A kill from Carter knotted it up at 24-24 and the visitors spent its final timeout. A kill and a block capped the 26-24 win for Florida, securing the sweep.
The Tide plays a pair of road matches next week, starting Wednesday, Oct. 3 in Knoxville, Tenn., against Tennessee at 7 p.m. CT live on SEC Network.
