Alabama
12-13, 4-10
Arkansas
9-17, 3-11
Alabama Volleyball Battles in Five-Set Loss to Arkansas Sunday on the Road
11/17/2019 2:41:00 PM | Volleyball
The Crimson Tide tallied a season-best nine service aces
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Alabama volleyball and Arkansas went down to the wire Sunday afternoon at Barnhill Arena, battling to five sets with the Razorbacks ultimately edging out the Crimson Tide, 3-2.
Alabama (12-13, 4-10 SEC) rallied from a 25-22 loss in the first set to defeat Arkansas (9-17, 3-11 SEC) 25-18 in the second. The Razorbacks won by an identical 25-18 score in the third but the Crimson Tide pulled out the 25-22 win in the fourth to send the teams to a fifth set. Alabama led at the mid-set switch and had match point at 15-14, but three straight from Arkansas gave the home team the narrow 17-15 victory to cap the match.
Alabama saw plenty of points generated from the service line, posting a season-high nine service aces led by career highs from senior Ginger Perinar and redshirt Junior Ashley Homan with five and four, respectively. Junior Doris Carter led the offense with 13 kills, adding 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Freshman Alyiah Wells also finished in double figures with 11 kills and a team-leading six blocks at the net.
STAT LEADERS
- Kills – Doris Carter (13)
- Assists – Meghan Neelon (25)
- Aces – Ginger Perinar (5)
- Blocks – Alyiah Wells (6)
- Digs – Kaylee Thomas (19)
SET-BY-SET
- Set One (Arkansas 25, Alabama 22): Tied at 4-4 early in set one, Arkansas scored back-to-back points to move in front and the Razorbacks remained ahead until a tip kill by Perinar tied it back up at 10-10. Later trailing 12-11, a 4-1 run put the Tide ahead 15-13 at the media timeout. The Razorbacks came out of the break with their own 4-1 run to retake the lead, 17-16, and Alabama took its first team timeout. A kill from graduate transfer Eva Borrowdale tied it at 17-17 and, tied again two points later at 18-18, Arkansas scored consecutive points to lead by two at the 20-point mark. It was still a two-point game when the Tide took its second timeout, trailing 22-20, and again at set point for Arkansas, 24-22. A kill on the next rally clinched the 25-23 victory for the Razorbacks.
- Set Two (Alabama 25, Arkansas 18): A run of five unanswered points early in the set, including back-to-back aces from Homan, put Alabama ahead 6-2. Arkansas took its first team timeout trailing 10-5. Coming out of the break, Perinar scored three aces in a row with a block and a kill after that pushing the lead to double digits as the Razorbacks spent their final timeout trailing 15-5. Later at 17-6, Arkansas started to close the gap with a 6-1 run and Alabama was forced to take a timeout with its lead trimmed to 18-12. The Tide reached set point, 24-16, and the Razorbacks scored twice to keep the set alive. After an Alabama timeout ahead 24-18, an Arkansas service error ended it with the match now even at 1-1.
- Set Three (Arkansas 25, Alabama 18): Alabama jumped ahead to an early 9-3 lead before Arkansas had to take its first timeout. The Razorbacks chipped away at the deficit after the break, eventually tying it at 12-12 as the Tide took its first timeout. Arkansas took the lead on the next rally after the break and remained in front, with Alabama eventually taking a timeout down 21-17. The Razorbacks closed out the set with a 4-1 run to take a 2-1 match advantage.
- Set Four (Alabama 25, Arkansas 22): Alabama challenged an early call and it was successfully overturned, giving the Tide possession now up 4-3. Later still ahead by one at 8-7, the Tide added some distance with a 5-1 run to lead 13-8 before Arkansas called a timeout. Alabama kept the home team at arm's length, leading 19-13 at the Razorbacks' second timeout. The Tide led 22-17 at its first timeout and 23-20 at its second. Alabama held on to its lead however, eventually winning the set 25-22 to send the match to a fifth set.
- Set Five (Arkansas 17, Alabama 15): Arkansas opened the set with three unanswered points before Carter put Alabama on the board with a cross-court kill. The Razorbacks led 5-3 before four unanswered from the Tide swung momentum to the visitors, now leading 7-5 as Arkansas took a timeout. Alabama led 8-6 at the mid-set switch and 10-7 at Arkansas' second timeout. A block from senior Hayley McSparin and junior Meghan Neelon made it 11-7 before back-to-back points from Arkansas cut the lead back to two and the Tide spent a timeout ahead 11-9. A Razorback service ace tied it up at 13-13 and a kill gave the home team match point as the Tide took a timeout down 14-13. Kills from Homan and Wells gave Alabama match point, 15-14, but Arkansas answered back with three in a row to win the set, 17-15, and the match, 3-2.
KEYS TO THE MATCH
- The two teams each had nine service aces, but Alabama limited the errors with just six while Arkansas committed 17.
- Alabama hit a combined .280 as a team in the first and second sets before dipping to .125 in the third set loss. The Tide bounced back with a .242 clip in the fourth and .300 in the fifth.
- In the second set, Alabama capitalized on scoring momentum with separate scoring streaks of five-straight and seven-straight. A run of four straight helped give the Tide some momentum in the middle of the fifth set, swinging the lead in its favor.
UP NEXT
Alabama has a split weekend, first traveling to Tennessee (12-12, 6-8 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 22 for a 5:30 p.m. CT match against the Lady Vols before returning home to host LSU (13-11, 7-7 SEC) on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 1 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.
