After pulling off a huge victory to stay alive against No. 2 TCU, the Tigers put themselves in a position to pull off a similar victory in their elimination match against Florida State. The Seminoles dominated the first sets as they had in their previous two matches against LSU, but, unlike those matches, the Tigers would bounce back.
While they didn’t mirror Florida State’s first-set dominance completely in the second, they did what they needed to do to survive, sending three matches to a third set. Their backs were against the wall, as they surrendered two points early on, but they were not out of it yet.
The last three courts would feature similar faces, with each duo that contributed a point against TCU remaining in the match.
Holly Carlton and Reilly Allred would put the Tigers on the scoreboard, dominating the third set and claiming it 15-10. That left LSU’s tournament run in the hands of the duos on Court 2 and Court 5.
As each match approached its conclusion, it was clear that the Tigers’ late rally was coming to an end. Sierra Caffo and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope had fought tooth-and-nail to finish their opponents off in the second set, coming up short 24-26, and Kelli Greene-Agnew and Kylie Deberg had a similar experience in their first.
While each duo had claimed sets, Caffo and Rasnick-Pope lost momentum in their second set loss and Florida State replenished some of their momentum against Greene-Agnew and Deberg with a late rally in the second. Each Seminole duo carried that momentum into the third, firing quickly eventually obtaining 14-9 leads on both courts.
One point going Florida State’s way would mean the end for the Tigers’ tournament run and unfortunately, it wouldn’t take long for that point to be scored. FSU’s Anna Long and Kate Privett would deal the finishing blow with an expertly-placed in LSU’s right corner, ending their promising run with a few more matches left to the championship.
Had the Tigers managed to advance, they would have had remaining matchups against No. 4 Loyola Marymount and the loser of No. 1 USC and No. 3 USC before they could reach the championship. That means they would have had to defeat every team in the top-five to make it all the way. The AVCA’s expansion of the NCAA tournament produced insane matchups for everyone involved and even with the Tigers winning two of them, the path to the championship was still incredibly difficult.
That should produce many amazing matches and storylines for years to come, as a run to the title will inevitably involve endless elite battles and you never know when an unexpected dark horse will catch fire. I imagine LSU will be part of some of those, not only consistently producing elite talent but also having the ability to rally against anybody, especially when their backs are against the wall and the odds are against them.
