It was a back-and-forth affair on Sunday afternoon, but the Alabama volleyball team couldn’t hold on in the fourth set against undefeated Missouri. The Crimson Tide took it to four sets but fell (22-25, 26-24, 20-25, 12-25).
“We kind of went away emotionally, and that’s one of the things that we’ve got to get better at – just staying in the match emotionally, because physically we didn’t really go away; it was more emotionally,” outside hitter Krystal Rivers said.
Despite the loss, Alabama accomplished something that no other team has done to Missouri this year: take two sets against the Tigers. With the 3-1 loss at Missouri in October and the 3-1 loss on Sunday, Alabama has taken two of the eight sets that the Tigers have lost all season.
“I think that we’re a team that clearly is one of the top four teams right now in the league, and I think we’ve proven that over the course of two and a half months,” UA coach Ed Allen said. “I think it says a lot about where we’re at, where we have potentially the ability to be physically. I think we’ve just got to grow with our ability to process what’s happening on the floor and our ability to generate points.”
Missouri put up 19 blocks on Alabama. The Crimson Tide answered with seven. The Tigers were able to keep Rivers to a .176 hitting percentage and a team-high 13 kills on the match.
“Yeah, they were all over me, so I had to just find a way to just try and work away and deal with it,” Rivers said. “When they block you, you just have to deal with it; it’s part of being a player.”
Outside hitter Mattie Weldy put up 12 kills and a .132 hitting percentage. The team as a whole put up a .121 hitting percentage and 45 kills. The Tigers hit .281 with 55 kills.
“Their blocking no doubt is just on point, but I mean, I think mentally we weren’t in the game. I think the front row, we were just very scattered,” Weldy said. “I think, mentally, it had a big part in the game, and so we just have to improve on that level next time.”
With this loss, Alabama split the weekend after a 3-1 win over Arkansas. The Friday night win completed the two-game sweep over the Razorbacks this season, each match ending with a 3-1 win for Alabama. Sunday’s loss to Missouri gave the Tigers a 2-0 sweep over Alabama this year. The Crimson Tide is now 20-7 on the season with a 7-5 SEC record.
