UK volleyball defeats Alabama behind Whitney Billings and Alexandra Morgan
October 27, 2013
By Kyle Arsendorf
The state of Alabama was well-represented on both sides of the court in the UK volleyball’s victory over the University of Alabama on Sunday in Memorial Coliseum.
UK senior middle blocker Alexandra Morgan, of Birmingham, Ala., and senior outside hitter Whitney Billings, of Helena, Ala., led the Cats against the Crimson Tide, as UK won in four sets, 25-17, 25-23, 18-25 and 25-20.
Billings had 12 kills, with 11 coming in the final three sets, as Morgan led the team with 14 kills and a .619 hitting percentage.
“(Morgan) stepped it up this game,” Billings said. “She attacked the ball really well and her blocking was good, like always.”
“(Sophomore setter Morgan Bergren) did a great job of distributing the ball,” Morgan added. “It allowed us to get a lot of great opportunities and keep the defense on their toes.”
UK found itself in an early 4-7 hole to begin the first set as a result of a couple of attacking errors by Billings.
The Cats clawed back to take an 11-8 lead at behind a 7-1 scoring run. The set belonged to UK from that point on, as the Cats took the opening set, 25-17, on the back of five first-set kills by Morgan and only two team errors.
Billings notched her second kill of the match early in the second set to push UK ahead 7-5. Alabama knotted the score at 12-12, forcing a timeout by UK head coach Craig Skinner.
Alabama took one last lead in the set at 18-19 before an attacking error by Alabama sophomore Mattie Weldy gave UK set-point. Morgan propelled the Cats to a two-set lead with her seventh kill down the line.
Alabama came out attacking in the third set, jumping out to a 14-8 lead and causing Skinner to call another timeout. The crowd reacted to a controversial out-of-bounds call on a kill by Billings that increased the Alabama lead to six, 9-15. The set remained just out of reach for the Cats, as they surrendered the third set to Alabama, 18-25.
Both teams held multiple one-point leads in the beginning portion of the fourth set, and after numerous ties, Alabama gained a two-point lead on the Cats, 13-11. Out of a UK timeout, Billings notched kill number 10 to put the Cats behind by only one, 14-15. With an Alabama attacking error, UK took the lead, 17-16. Alabama didn’t hold another lead as the Cats seized the set and the game behind an attack-error by Weldy.
“I thought we went soft in set three,” Skinner said. “But to completely reverse that and play as tough as we did at the end says something about the character of this team.”
UK will have the week off until Friday when they take on the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., before traveling to Columbia, Mo., to take on No. 7 University of Missouri on Sunday.
