By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Ben Boynton)

Alabama volleyball earned a sweep Friday night against Arkansas to earn its 50th conference win during coach Ed Allen’s career with the Crimson Tide. Allen earned the mark faster than any coach in program history. The win moves Alabama to 15-6 overall and 4-4 in the conference this season.

Alabama had its highest hitting percentage of SEC play, finishing with a .348 mark. It limited the Razorbacks to a hitting percentage of .097.

The first set held an early 7-2 for the Crimson Tide, which turned into a 15-8 advantage at the media timeout. Arkansas closed it to within two points, but Alabama earned the win 25-22 to take the set.

In the second set, Alabama broke out of an early 2-2 tie to take a 14-4 lead. After Arkansas rallied to make it an 18-12 deficit, the Crimson Tide scored seven straight points to close out the set. The 25-12 set win gave Alabama a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was a closer contest, with both teams keeping pace with each other early in the set. Alabama led 15-11 at the media timeout, then came out of the break with two more points to force the Razorbacks into a timeout. Arkansas would fight back to a 22-18 score before Alabama took three of the next four points to win the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.

Redshirt senior middle blocker Krystal Rivers finished with 25 kills, which was just two fewer kills than Arkansas’ team total. Rivers also had four service aces. Junior middle blocker Leah Lawrence posted two services aces to extend her streak of matches with at least one ace to five. Redshirt freshman Shannon Mikesky had 38 assists and 10 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double.

The Crimson Tide will travel to Ole Miss to take on the Rebels Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

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Source:: The Crimson White Sports