The LSU volleyball team saw its 11-match winning streak snapped at the hands of Mississippi State on Sunday.
It was a tightly contested five-set battle in Starkville as the winning margin in each of the first four sets was three points or fewer points, but LSU (16-8, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) couldn’t get out of their own way.
The Tigers had 68 kills in the match to the Bulldogs’ 52, but errors normally decide the winner in a close match and Sunday was no different.
LSU had 35 attack errors, nine service errors and four block errors in the match, all more than Mississippi State (7-22, 2-12 SEC).
LSU coach Fran Flory said the Bulldogs just played harder than the Tigers.
“Credit them for playing their type of match and keeping the ball in play and we didn’t respond well to that,” head coach Fran Flory said in a press release. “We didn’t want it bad enough.”
While the first four sets were competitive, LSU never held a lead in the final set. The Tigers had the score at 6-5, but the Bulldogs reeled off eight of the next 10 points to get the match to set point at 14-7.
LSU fought off Mississippi State’s match point twice, but an attack error on sophomore middle blocker Briana Holman ended the match.
Though Holman’s error ended the match, her play was a main reason the Tigers were in the match for so long. The sophomore posted a career-high 25 kills, while hitting .512, to go along with eight blocks and three digs.
Junior defensive specialist Haley Smith made personal and LSU volleyball history in the match as she had a career best 30 digs and became the 15^th player in school history to reach 1,000 career digs.
Flory said she was proud of the effort of these two players, but ultimately the Tigers needed more from the rest of the lineup.
“You needed somebody to carry the load and Bri and Haley both did that in numerous ways today,” Flory said. “Haley kept balls off the floor and Briana was awfully good. But outside of that, our offense wasn’t there and neither was our tempo.”
LSU returns to action Friday at home against Missouri.