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Alabama Volleyball Team Sweeps a Pair of Matches at Bama Bash on Friday
Senior Alyssa Meuth notches double-digit kills against both Toledo and Furman
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama volleyball team played two matches on the opening day of the annual Bama Bash sweeping both Toledo and Furman 3-0 in the CAVE. In its first match, the Crimson Tide took down previously unbeaten Toledo by scores of 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 before knocking off Furman in a thriller night match 25-20, 25-14, 25-23. The wins moved Alabama to 3-2 on the season, while the Rockets fell to 3-1 and the Paladins 2-3.
"We had two great consistent team efforts today," said Alabama head coach Judy Green. "I liked the energy and passion we played with on the floor. We took down a pair of very competitive teams in Toledo and Furman. The way we came out, worked hard and competed as a team today is the way we need to approach every match."
In the Tide’s match against Toledo sophomore Kayla Fitterer paced the offense with 14 kills, while fellow sophomore Kelsey Anderson scooped up a game-high 11 digs. Senior Alyssa Meuth was a consistent force for the offense, recording 11 kills while hitting .588 for the match. Senior Kayla Schmidt dished out 21 assists on the match, while junior Stephanie Riley handed out 14. Senior Calli Johnson led the Crimson Tide’s block attack, collecting six block assists.
The first set remained tight most of the way, with neither team able to claim the lead by more than two points until Alabama went on a 6-0 run to take command 21-15. After a service error by the Rockets gave Alabama a 16-15 lead, Toledo committed an attack error and Fitterer put down a kill, forcing the Rockets to take a timeout. Following the timeout, another hitting error from Toledo and two more Alabama kills capped the run before the Rockets were finally able to record a kill of their own. Fitterer gathered three more kills at the end of the set, including one on set point to give the Tide the 25-20 win.
The second set was also very close in the early stages. Toledo was able to build a two point lead at 10-8 after a kill from Amber DeWeerdt, but Alabama answered with 5-0 run to regain the lead. The Rockets closed within a single point at 13-12, but that was the closest they would get the rest of the set. The Tide put together an 8-0 run to put the set out of reach, sparked by two kills from freshman Brianne Vande Griend and shaky service return by Toledo. Once again, it was Fitterer recording a kill on set point, this time to put Alabama ahead 2-0.
The Tide came out strong in the third, looking to close the match out. A couple of kills by Meuth helped Alabama build an early 7-4 lead, but the Rockets would fight back to take a 12-10 lead thanks to some solid hitting from DeWeerdt and a service ace by Dakota Harkins. Alabama was able to tie the set on several occasions, but did not take the lead until Johnson recorded an ace to make the score 19-18. A host of Tide players stepped up at the end of the set to close out the victory. Meuth smashed a kill for a 21-19 lead. Toledo then called a timeout, but redshirt sophomore Leigh Moyer answered with a kill of her own. Meuth collected another kill to give Alabama four match points, but the first three were squandered away. With the score standing at 24-23, Vande Griend put down a kill to seal the match win in three sets.
The Rockets failed to hit over .220 in any of the three sets, committing 20 attack errors for the match. Service woes also plagued Toledo, as they had twice as many errors (six) as aces (three). The Tide was able to find some success in the blocking game as well, recording nine compared to only four for the Rockets.
Alabama came out strong in its night match against Furman refusing to give up the lead in the first set. A trio of kills topped off by a service ace for the Tide put the crimson and white on top 4-1 early. Alabama would lead by as many as seven points before the Paladins put together a 10-3 run tying the frame at 17-17. The Tide would go on to score the next two, but Furman came back again to even the score out once more at 19-19. From there, Alabama allowed the Paladins just one more point in the set closing out the first with four straight points for the 25-20 win.
It was again all Tide early as Alabama raced out to another 4-1 edge to start the second. The Tide continued to cruise ahead of Furman and used a 7-0 run midway through to put Alabama on top 20-9. Redshirt sophomore Leigh Moyer would deliver the set-clinching kill off a feed from Riley to award the second to the Tide 25-14.
The third set came down to the wire as neither team managed to lead by more than three points throughout its entirety. The Paladins scored a trio of points to kick off the frame before the Tide steadily crept back and eventually took the 11-10 lead off a Fitterer service ace. The final stretch consisted of a series of the two teams trading sideouts with eight ties and a pair of lead changes. With the score all even at 22-22, Meuth threw down her 11th kill of the match putting Alabama back in front. Johnson tacked on the Tide’s next point with a kill of her own to put Alabama within one of the match win. Furman managed to fight off one set point thanks to a block, however Vande Griend would finish the match with authority to collect her ninth kill and give the victory to the Tide.
Alabama hit .291 for the match while holding the Paladins to an overall clip of .190. The Tide also bettered Furman in kills 47-32, assists 44-31 and digs 55-46. The Paladins did, however, out-block Alabama 8.0-4.0.
The Tide returns to action Saturday for the final day of the Bama Bash when it takes on UAB at 1 p.m.
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