Sept. 10, 2004
ARLINGTON, Texas - Alabama used 27 kills and 17 digs from senior outside hitter Erin Heffner to remain undefeated as they upended Texas-Arlington 3-1 (23-30, 30-25, 30-21, 30-25) at the 2004 Arlington Hilton/UTA Invitational here Friday.
Alabama improves to 5-0 on the season and will play Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday at 5 p.m. UTA, now 6-1, matches the program's best start through seven contests since 1987.
Offensively for Alabama, freshman outside hitter Crystal Hudson (18), sophomore blocker Rachel Green (14) and senior middle blocker Julie Farley (13) posted double fidgure kills. Jessica Yearout led the 'Tide with 21 digs.
UTA was led offensively by Ashley Van Antwerp with 17 kills. Freshman Morgan Rogers (13) and senior Caley Smith (11) also had double figure kills. Defensively, Tori Dacus (19), Rogers (17), Van Antwerp (15), freshman Dani Johnson (12) and Smith (10) all posted double figure digs.
"I don't think they knew what to expect," said UTA Head Volleyball Coach Diane Seymour after the loss. "(Alabama) had never played here before and probably didn't know what to expect."
"You can see why (Heffner) is an all-American candidate. She is the best outside hitter we will face all year long. I think our girls felt good about the way we played. We made Alabama beat us. Anytime you can stand toe-to-toe with a team of their caliber it gives you confidence going into conference."
Alabama (5-0) overcame a sluggish start where they hit 14 errors and an .000 attack percentage in game one.
In game two, the 'Tide warmed up to hit .440 thanks to 12 kills by Heffner. She dominated the net from the left side to tally four kills early as Alabama took a 12-4 lead and never looked back. Game one went to UTA as the Lady Mavs raced out to a 5-0 lead after three consecutive Alabama hitting errors. The Tide trimmed the lead to three, 24-21, after a Dacus hitting error, but could get no closer.
Alabama took the lead early in game three and never trailed after a 3-3 tie. Hudson and Green rolled up seven kills each in the third game. A Hudson kill gave Alabama an 18-10 lead enroute to the win.
NOTES: Saturday's tournament schedule includes UTA vs. Arkansas-Little Rock at 11 a.m., Houston vs. Indiana at 1 p.m., Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Alabama at 5 p.m. and UTA vs. Indiana at 7 p.m.
