Alabama Volleyball Pushes No. 12 Arkansas to Four Sets in Sunday Loss

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Alabama volleyball pushed No. 12 Arkansas to four sets on the road Sunday, winning a tight third set before falling in the fourth as the Razorbacks ultimately held on for the four-set win over the Crimson Tide.

Alabama (10-8, 0-7 SEC) dropped the first two sets to 12th-ranked Arkansas (17-2, 7-0 SEC) but didn’t go down quietly in the third, surging ahead to a lead at 7-6 and holding it the rest of the way, fighting off a late Razorback push to win, 25-23, and send it to a fourth set. The set loss was just Arkansas’ second in its last five matches. The Razorbacks bounced back in the fourth however, taking a double-digit lead near the halfway mark and eventually winning the set, 25-13, to take the match.

Alyiah Wells led the team with 11 kills, her seventh match this season with double-digit kills including each of the last three matches. Freshman setter Gabbi LeBlanc made her second appearance of the season and her first in SEC play, finishing the match with 20 assists.

“The difference [in the third set] was that we seemed to flip the switch. We were aggressive at the service line and there was a belief in ourselves and our abilities. Arkansas is a team that is very seasoned and they play very clean and that seemed to rattle them a bit. We put pressure on them with that belief in ourselves. I was incredibly proud of Gabbi [Leblanc]. It’s very hard to come off the bench like that in a pressure situation, especially as a freshman, but she was ready to go. She was locked in and handled herself with so much poise, composure and leadership. She seemed to calm down the team and run a really nice offense.”

Notes

• Alabama’s set three win is just Arkansas’ second set loss in its last five matches
• Freshman setter Gabbi LeBlanc made her second appearance of the season and her first in SEC play, finishing the match with 20 assists
• Alyiah Wells led the team with 11 kills, her seventh match this season with double-digit kills including the last three straight
• Kendyl Reaugh and Victoria Schmer were both in double-digits in digs with 13 and 11, respectively

Stat Leaders

Set-by-Set

• Set 1: Arkansas 25, Alabama 10
• Set 2: Arkansas 25, Alabama 13
• Set 3: Alabama 25, Arkansas 23
• Set 4: Arkansas 25, Alabama 13

Up Next: at South Carolina

• Wednesday, Oct. 18 – Columbia, S.C. – 6 p.m. CT