TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After a set one loss, Alabama volleyball rallied to win the next three and claim the four-set win over Tennessee Wednesday night in Foster Auditorium.
Alabama (10-19, 4-13 SEC) fell to Tennessee (16-13, 10-7 SEC) in the opening frame, 21-25, before rattling off consecutive 25-21, 29-27 and 25-23 wins to take the four-set decision. The 58 kills are the Crimson Tide’s second-highest total in SEC play this season and the 13 service aces are its highest in league play and third-highest overall. Alabama had three players in double-digit kills, led by a season-high 18 from Abby Marjama who also tied her season high with six service aces. The latter improves her season total to 72, making her the first Alabama player since 1990 with over 70 aces in a season.
Tennessee jumped ahead to a 10-3 lead in the opening set, forcing an early Alabama timeout. The Tide fought back to close the gap within two, as the Lady Vols burned both their timeouts by the time their lead shrunk to 19-17. Alabama fought all the way to take a 20-19 lead but soon fell behind again at 23-21, taking its final timeout of the set. The Lady Vols ultimately held on to win, 25-22. With Alabama ahead 6-3 early in the second, Tennessee went on a 6-0 run to lead 9-3 before the Tide called a timeout. The teams traded back and forth through the middle of the set, with five tie scores by the time it reached 19-19. The Tide quickly rattled off three unanswered and led by the same margin at set point before a kill from Marjama gave Alabama the 25-21 win to even the match.
Tennessee started to put some distance to its lead with a 6-1 run leading into the media timeout, leading 15-8. Alabama kept chipping away at the deficit and when the Lady Vols reached set point at 24-20, the Tide scored three unanswered to make it a one-point game. After a Tennessee timeout, a Marjama kill tied it at 24-24 and then after four more set points the Tide finally pulled through to earn the 29-17 comeback win. Alabama surged back from an early deficit again in the fourth, trailing 10-5 before tying it 11-11 on a Sydney Gholson service ace. The Tide build a three-point lead at the Lady Vols’ second timeout, but the visitors quickly fought back to tie it at 18-18. Alabama was the first to reach set point, 24-21, but Tennessee stayed alive with back-to-back points including an overturned call on a challenge on what would…
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