Volleyball Sweeps South Carolina in SEC Tourney Opener
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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COLUMBIA, S.C. - The University of Alabama volleyball continued their hot playing on Friday night by sweeping Southeastern Conference tournament host South Carolina 3-0 (30-25, 30-22, 30-22) in the opening round of the event on Friday night.
The victory raised the Tide's season record to 18-12 and gave Alabama its third straight victory in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. For Bama, the win marked its third in a row over the Gamecocks and second consecutive SEC Tournament victory versus USC. South Carolina ends its season with a record of 12-17.
"We are very fortunate to get a win here," said UA eighth-year head coach Judy Green, who guided the Tide to the first win over USC in Columbia in five tries. "I really like how my team is playing volleyball right now. This is not a team of superstars. Once we got the jitters out we played good. This team does a good job of showing maturity. I can't say enough about (Erin) Price. She gets better match-to-match, her confidence keeps growing. She is a senior who is hungry and that is when great things happen."
The Crimson Tide senior duo of Jennifer Bibber and Erin Price, making their final career SEC Tournament appearances, were the catalyst for the Bama sweep. Bibber finished with her ninth double-double of the season recording 15 kills and 12 digs and also served up five of the team's seven aces in the match. Price handed out 37 assists in guiding the Tide to a .257 hitting percentage and also tallied a team-high seven blocks.
Bibber and Price weren't the only standout performers for the Tide in the match, All-SEC first team junior Erin Price led the Bama offense with 17 kills while UA's middle blocking duo of Julie Farley and Rachael Green recorded 11 kills and 11 blocks combined.
South Carolina grabbed an early advantage in front of the home crowd, leading 22-15 before the Tide came rolling back. Alabama turned up the defensive pressure and forced the Gamecocks into a dismal .054 hitting performance as the Tide captured the opening frame by the count of 30-25. UA scored the final eight points of the game.
The Crimson Tide got out of the gate quickly in game two, scoring the first three points en route to a 9-5 lead. A six-point run moments later on Bibber's serve pushed the Tide advantage to 16-8. Alabama continued to roll opening up a near double-digit margin, 28-19, before USC forced a Bama timeout with three straight points. Following the breather, UA regrouped to score the final points for the 30-22 win.
Game three started as a back-and-forth battle with neither team able to string points together. However with the scored knotted at 13, Alabama outscored Carolina 14-4 to take control of the match and then cruised to the 30-22 victory. UA saved its best for last hitting a match-high .314 in the final game. A Bibber kill from an assist by Price was fittingly the final point of the match.
Alabama, the No. 3 seed, advances to Saturday night's semifinal match at 5 p.m. (ET) against No. 2 seed Arkansas, a 3-0 victor over LSU late on Friday night. Top-seeded Florida takes on No. 4 seed Tennessee in the tournament's other semifinal matchup. The SEC Championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.
Alabama (18-12) 30-30-30
South Carolina (12-17) 25-22-22
