TUSCALOOSA — Alabama volleyball dropped its first home match of the 2017 season Sunday afternoon, falling in three sets to Missouri with set scores of 17-25, 15-25 and 25-27.
Alabama (12-5, 1-3 SEC) dropped the opening two sets to Missouri (10-7, 3-1 SEC) before looking to avoid the sweep with a late lead in the third. The Tigers came back in the closing points however, tying the score after the Tide had reached set point and eventually completing the three-set win with a 27-25 victory in the third set. Senior Leah Lawrence finished the match with four blocks, which improves her career total to 400 blocks. She is just the fifth player in program history to reach the mark.
With Alabama up 5-4 early in set one, Missouri would retake the lead with three-straight points and would remain in front through the media timeout, 15-11. The Tigers extended its lead to five points before the Tide called its first timeout, down 18-13, and then six points at Alabama’s second timeout, 21-15. Missouri would continue to pull away, eventually winning set one 25-17.
Alabama burned its first timeout early in set two following three-straight points by Missouri to give the visitors a 7-3 lead. With the Tigers on top later, 9-6, a 5-1 run would extend Missouri’s lead to 14-7 and force the Tide to take its second timeout. Missouri would eventually build a double-digit advantage, 19-9, and win the set by the same margin, 25-15, to take a 2-0 match lead.
After five tie scores early in set three, Alabama pulled ahead with a 4-1 run and remained in front until Missouri looked to regroup with a timeout at 18-14. The Tigers began to chip away at the Tide’s lead and drew within one point before Alabama had to take its own timeout leading 21-20. A block on the next point tied it up at 21-21 and after two more tie scores, Missouri reached match point and Alabama took its final timeout down 25-24. A Tiger attack error tied it back up but a kill made it match point again and a service ace capped the comeback win for Missouri as they claimed the set, 27-25, to complete the three-set sweep.
Alabama hits the road next weekend for a pair of SEC matches. The Tide opens on Friday, Oct. 6 at No. 10 Kentucky (11-2, 2-0 SEC) at 6 p.m. CT before facing Tennessee (8-4, 1-2 SEC) on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 12:30 p.m. CT.
