TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was a tough start to the weekend for the Tide as they began the Texas Tournament with losses to Louisiana (12-25, 19-25, 17-25) and TCU (35-33, 14-25, 23-25, 16-25).
Though there were some things to be excited about, it was the third straight tournament in which the Tide lost its first two of three matches. However, it was also the Tide’s third straight tournament winning their third and final match of the weekend, as they defeated Texas St (25-15, 25-23, 25-23).
Against Louisiana, the Tide was simply overpowered offensively. The Rajun’ Cajuns had a crisp 39 kills on 11 attacking errors, while the Tide had only 28 kills and 24 errors. Louisiana was simply the better team, as they jumped out to an early 0-8 lead in the 1st set and never looked back.
It appeared as though the Tide would suffer a similar fate at the hands of the Horned Frogs, as they fell behind to an early 2-8 deficit. However, the Tide rolled back to make a one-point game at 18-19. The marathon first set would end with a Tide ace as they won the 1st set at an astonishing 35-33. Unfortunately, the momentum would not hold, as TCU came back to win in 4 sets.
Hungry for a win, the Tide blew the Texas State Bobcats out in the 1st set (25-15). The Tide put together some of their best work of the weekend together as they won two more competitive sets, completing the sweep to cap off the tournament.
After falling to 6-6, the Tide will look to break .500 while they travel to their first SEC opponent, Florida.
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