TUSCALOOSA, AL. – Despite hard-fought battles against SEC rivals Tennessee and Florida, Alabama entered the match against the Missouri Tigers chasing their first conference victory.
With OH Micah Gryniewicz still sidelined by injury, no changes were made to the recently introduced starting lineup.
Exemplary middle back defense from the Tigers overshadowed a relatively clean start by the Tide, as they trailed 11-15 early in set one. Two key missed serves from the Tide gave Missouri set point. Alabama would go on to lose set one (22-25).
The Tide held a lead to start set two, but a 6-point run from the Tigers left them down 10-14. However, Alabama would come back to tie the match 23-23. Despite the Tide holding a couple set points, the nail-biting finish to set two ended with a loss (28-30).
After playing point-for-point early in set three, Alabama was able to break away and hold a 15-13 lead. Unfortunately, the Missouri weapons were too much for the Tide as they dropped set three (20-25) and the match 0-3 (22-25, 28-30, 20-25).
With the loss, Alabama falls to 10-7 (0-6), and holds last place in the SEC. They’ll next head to Fayetteville to play No. 12 Arkansas.
Elliott Scully serves as WVUA-FM’s senior volleyball writer. Follow Elliott on X @elliottscull.
