Cats Fail To Finish Off Tide
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Kentucky jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not put away the Alabama Crimson Tide losing 2-3 Sunday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
UK (4-16, 2-7 SEC) was dominant through the first two games pounding the Tide 15-10 and 15-8, but was not able to close out the match allowing UA (17-6, 6-3 SEC) to sneak back into, and eventually win the SEC contest.
UK captured the opening game in impressive fashion 15-10. After Alabama took the first three points, the Cats ran off the next seven, forcing the Tide to call a timeout. UA responded by winning six of the next eight points to even the game at nine. However, the Cats were not to be denied the game as they countered by taking six of the final seven points, and closed out game one on a service ace by Aleisha Craven.
Megan Weiskircher and Kristen Batt combined for 11 kills and seven digs for the Big Blue. UK hit .419 for the game in comparison to .118 by UA.
Kentucky took a 2-0 lead in the match after winning game two. The Cats’ offense was clicking and UK sprinted out to a 13-4 advantage before the Tide knew what had him them. Following a timeout, Alabama closed the gap to 13-8, but that was as close as they would get. Kentucky took the game’s final two points to prevail 15-8.
UK outhit UA .262 to .091 in the second game. Weiskircher and Batt both recorded four kills to lead UK. In addition to her four kills, Batt posted a game-high tying seven digs.
Alabama awoke in the third game, never trailing en route to winning 15-8. UK was unable to put together an extended run of points as Alabama dominated the net with five team blocks. Kentucky’s hitting percentage fell to .100 in game three. Alabama hit .250 for the game.
Not much went right for the Cats in game four. UA jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Kentucky battled back to cut the lead to one at 4-5. However, that would the extent of UK’s comeback as Alabama won 15-5 and forced a fifth game.
Game five was played in rally scoring. The Tide sprinted out to a 5-0 lead before Sissy Canfield’s kill got the Cats on the board. Kristen Batt followed up with a crosscourt kill of her own to cut the UA lead to 5-2. The Tide then took five of the next six points to extend its lead to10-3, but UK countered to close the gap to 6-10. UK would claw as close as two points, but UA would eventually prevail 15-12 and complete its’ comeback.
Kristen Batt posted her third consecutive double-double for UK with 15 kills and 17 digs. Megan Weiskircher missed a double-double of her own by one dig. Weiskircher tallied 17 kills and nine digs. Whitney Sample recorded a match-high 48 assists and 14 digs for her third double-double of the season.
Kentucky hit .187 for the match. Alabama hit .191.
Michelle Green led UA with 22 kills and 14 digs. Emily Sebastian contributed with 12 kills and Monica Morales added 12 digs for the Tide.
