Alabama
11-5
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Mississippi State
11-6
Alabama Volleyball Endures Lengthy Second Set to Eventually Defeat Mississippi State, 3-1
10/9/2019 9:43:00 PM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball earned a four-set win over Mississippi State Wednesday night in Foster Auditorium, including its lengthiest set in over a decade.
Alabama (11-5, 3-2 SEC) held the lead the entire first set, defeating Mississippi State (11-6, 0-5 SEC), 25-18. The second set extended well past the 25-point mark, with 14 set points before the Bulldogs eventually won, 39-37. The 76 combined points in the second set is the highest point total for the Crimson Tide since a 42-40 set loss to Ole Miss on Nov. 8, 2007.
With the match tied at 1-1, Alabama rebounded with a more decisive 25-17 win in the third frame before closing out the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth.
Plenty of Tide players put up big numbers in the win. Five finished with double-digit kills, led by 15 from senior Ginger Perinar. Sophomore Erin Curl tallied a career-best 14 kills with junior Doris Carter also earning 14 along with 12 digs for her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Emily Janek posted her second double-double with 55 assists and 17 digs, both season highs for the setter. Freshman PG Garrison tied Janek for the team lead on defense with 17 digs, also a season high.
FROM HEAD COACH LINDSEY DEVINE
"[The second set] was about pride, regardless of what the outcome was. We had to keep on fighting. I asked them after the set whether it was going to be motivation for us or an anchor. They used it as motivation. We jumped on them early in the third set and was really proud how we continued to fight. The home crowd was great. They were feeling every point."
STATÂ LEADERS
- Kills – Ginger Perinar (15)
- Assists – Emily Janek (55)
- Aces – Ginger Perinar, Hayley McSparin (3)
- Blocks – Ginger Perinar (4)
- Digs - PG Garrison, Emily Janek (17)
SET-BY-SET
- Set One (Alabama 25, Mississippi State 18): Alabama jumped ahead to an early 7-2 lead in set one, maintaining its five-point lead to the media timeout at 15-10. The Bulldogs would fight back within two points, trailing 18-16 before a kill from sophomore Erin Curl made it 19-16 and Mississippi State called a timeout. Alabama went on to win the set by seven, 25-18.
- Set Two (Mississippi State 39, Alabama 37): Alabama held the early momentum again in set two, building a six-point lead by the media timeout, 15-9. The Bulldogs took their first timeout trailing by five, 18-13, but then scored back-to-back points after the break to make it a three-point game as the Tide took its own timeout. Mississippi State continued its run, scoring three more to tie it at 18-18 and eventually take its first lead of the match at 20-19. After two tie scores, the Bulldogs pulled ahead 23-21 as the Tide spent its final timeout. A long rally ended in a kill from junior Doris Carter to make it 23-22 and Mississippi State took its final timeout. Alabama scored two more to pull back in front and reach set point, 24-23. That would end up as the first of 14 set points, as the teams battled to an eventual 39-37 decision in the Bulldogs' favor to even the match at 1-1.
- Set Three (Alabama 25, Mississippi State 17): Alabama scored the first three points of the third set and did not trail for the remainder of the frame, though Mississippi State did come back to tie it twice. Threatening to tie it for a third time with the Bulldogs serving while trailing 13-12, the Tide rattled off four unanswered points to gain a 17-12 lead. Mississippi State would only score five more times down the stretch, as Alabama took a 2-1 match lead with an eight-point decision in the third.
- Set Four (Alabama 25, Mississippi State 19): After building an early 5-2 lead, Alabama soon found itself trailing 9-7. After each team scored three points to make it 12-10, a 4-0 swing from the Tide put the home team back ahead, 14-12. Later tied at 15-15, Alabama started to pull away with four unanswered points. Leading by the same margin later at 22-18, a kill for the Bulldogs gave them possession facing a three-point deficit but a service error spurred a 3-0 run for the Tide to close the door, winning 25-19 to cap the four-set victory.
KEYS TO THE MATCH
- After falling in the lengthy second set, Alabama did not trail at all in the third set and only fell behind once in the fourth
- Alabama was again strong at the service line, totaling eight service aces as opposed to just four from Mississippi State. The Bulldogs also squandered momentum with 11 service errors.
- The Tide hit .254 as a team, its fourth-highest total of the season and its second-highest in SEC play, just trailing the .259 clip from the Sept. 29 win over Arkansas.
- Of the five Tide players that finished with double-digit kills, three of them hit above .300.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Emily Janek (Freshman – Allen, Texas)
- Posted her second double-double of the season, finishing with season highs in assists (55) and digs (17)
UP NEXT
Alabama is free from competition until Friday, Oct. 18 when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., to face LSU at 7 p.m. CT.
For the latest information on the team, follow @AlabamaVball on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Volleyball on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
