TUSCALOOSA, AL – Despite a number of hard fought losses, Alabama entered their home match against the Mississippi St. Bulldogs on a 9-match losing streak and winless in the SEC.
Though Coach Rashinda Reed had experimented with freshman S Gabbie LeBlanc in the past few matches, freshmen Callie Kieffer returned against the Bulldogs as the starter. The match saw OH Micah Gryniewicz, recently sidelined by injury, back in action with Francesca Bertucci as her DS. Kaleigh Palmer started at Opp, with freshman Allison Berent as her DS.
A slow start, including three straight Bulldog aces, saw the Tide trail 3-10 early in set 1. Unable to recover, Alabama dropped set 1 20-25. Though easily the superior blocking team, subpar serve receive significantly hampered their own offensive efforts.
At the media timeout, Alabama held a 15-14 lead, having gone point-for-point with Mississippi St. through the beginning of set 2. A double-set was called on Kieffer to end the set with a Tide loss 22-25. The call did not appear to be consistent with the official’s previous no-calls, and was not received well by the Alabama coaching staff.
Another stint of poor serve receive prompted a timeout from Coach Reed, as the Tide found themselves down 12-18 late in set 3. The Tide was unable to contain the Bulldogs as they lost set 3, and the match 0-3 (20-25, 22-25, 17-25).
Reed commented, “We were fighting hard and our middles were very effective but you can’t rely on just one position… I felt like it was an up-and-down performance all night.”
With the loss, Alabama falls to 10-11 (0-10), with a home match against Auburn next on the schedule. Though any playoff hopes are likely unable to be realized, a push for a few wins is imperative to build momentum for the 2024 season.
Elliott Scully serves as WVUA-FM’s senior volleyball writer. Follow Elliott on X @elliottscull.
