Mississippi State
Alabama
Tide Turns Back Volleyball Bulldogs
October 29, 2008 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Alabama turned back a strong set two challenge by Mississippi State Friday night and went on to claim a straight-sets win in SEC volleyball at the Newell-Grissom Building. The Crimson Tide (11-10, 4-8 SEC) snapped a four-match losing skid in winning 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 while the Bulldogs (6-17, 1-11 SEC) dropped their ninth consecutive match. The Bulldogs never led in the opening set as Alabama came out hitting at a .290 clip en route to a 25-17 decision. Brooke Webster, who paced Alabama for the night with nine kills, tallied four of those in the opening stanza. State trailed by as many as seven points at 17-10 in the second set but scrambled back into the fray on the strength of a four-kill effort by Ioana Demian and hitting mistakes by Alabama. Four straight Bama attack errors pulled the Bulldogs to within a point at 23-22 and forced the Tide to take a timeout. But Alyssa Meuth and Calli Johnson nailed kills that sealed the 25-23 UA win and gave the Tide a 2-0 match lead at the break. MSU opened the third set with a 4-1 run and took a 19-16 advantage on a kill by Kellye Jordan. Bama answered with three straight points, two on aces by Lauren Martin, to tie the score at 19-19. State freshman Caitlin Rance then delivered a kill for a 20-19 lead, but it would be the Bulldogs' last of the night. Alabama out-pointed State 6-1 down the stretch to register the match-clinching 25-21 win in the third set. Demian shared match honors for kills with nine, while Jordan added six off the bench. Sophomore middle Ashley Newsome finished with five kills and a team-best four total blocks. Alabama got five assisted blocks from Lindsey Buteyn and a pair of solo stops by Ashley Frazier to take a 9-5 edge in total team blocks. The Bulldogs close out their October schedule Friday at Auburn, Ala., with a 6 p.m. match against the Auburn Tigers (5-18, 0-12 SEC). In their earlier meeting this fall, the Bulldogs bested the Tigers in a five-set thriller Sept. 28 at the Newell-Grissom Building.
? Official Statistics (PDF)
