Alabama lost to Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa on Sunday, 3-2. This brings the Crimson Tide’s record to 11-15 and 3-12 in the SEC.
In Set 1, Alabama got off to a hot start, taking an early lead. However, the team couldn’t keep its momentum, and Ole Miss was able to take the lead late at 17-16 before winning the set 25-22. Set 2 was all Ole Miss, as the Rebels never trailed or even tied with Alabama. They would go on to win the set 25-13, with 9 of those points being off Alabama’s attacking errors.
Alabama bounced back in Set 3, never trailing and going on to win 25-20. Alabama pulled off a comeback in Set 4. Down 14-10, the Crimson Tide went on a 15-6 run to close it out, winning 25-20 and forcing a fifth set.
Set 5 was constantly back-and-forth and both teams traded leads early. However, once the Rebels took a 7-6 lead, they never looked back. Ole Miss took the set 15-9 to clinch its 17th win of the season.
Despite the loss, head coach Rashinda Reed was proud of her team’s resilience after being down early.
“They fought hard,” Reed said. “They put it all out there, and that’s all that I ask from them. It was a hard-fought match, and I was proud of them today.”
Multiple Alabama players stood out. Middle blocker Jordyn Towns had nine kills and 23 total attacks for 11.5 points. Setter Kayla Keshock led the team with 19 assists and put up a .250 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Leilia Toailoa had one of her best games of the season with 13 kills and 36 total attacks for a team-high 16 points.
For Toailoa, this game will be one she won’t forget.
“It felt really good to play with the team out there,” Toailoa said. “The way we played today is how we’ve been practicing for the last couple of weeks, so being able to go out there and execute it with the team was really exciting.”
In the end, it was the errors that led to Alabama’s loss. The team put up 30 attacking errors and 13 service errors, one of its highest totals of the season. The Crimson TIde also struggled to keep up with Ole Miss’s middle blockers. The Rebels had 16.5 blocks compared to Alabama’s 11, which helped them pull away in the end.
With just one game left in the regular season, the team believes that it can end with a win.
“If we continue to battle like this, I think we can surprise a lot of people,” Reed said.
Fans can tune in to SEC Network on Friday at 3 p.m. CT to watch Alabama take on the LSU Tigers at home.
