Senior outside hitter Cati Leak lined up on the right side of the baseline for the last serve of her collegiate career. With a giant smile on her face and a few feet of gauze wrapped around her left ankle, Leak swatted it over the net.
Fellow seniors Emily Ehrle, Haley Smith and Katie Lindelow then ran to meet Leak with the same crutches she’s been cuffed to since Nov. 1.
Leak grabbed her crutches with assistance and met a smiling, but crying, LSU coach Fran Flory on the sideline.
“These seniors have meant a lot,” Flory said. “I’m proud of their efforts. They busted it for this program for four years.”
“It was important to her to just put the jersey back on,” Lindelow said. “We had practiced it, luckily, before. Obviously, it was upsetting for her not to be out here, starting in the match. But, it was important for her to be out there.”
Sunday was Senior Day in the PMAC, marking the last time Leak, Ehrle, Smith and Lindelow suited up for a home match. No. 19 University of Kentucky defeated LSU in three sets, 21-25, 9-25, 25-27, (9-18, 5-11 Southeastern Conference) on a day of losing legends, framing jerseys and the support of family members.
Behind a cloak of toughness undermined by tears, their legacies will live on forever, Flory said.
“Their passion for LSU and their loyalty,” Flory said of the legacies the seniors will leave on the program. “They did such a great job of carrying the torch whenever we needed them. Their legacy is going to be that all four of them are great student athletes.”
The quartet of seniors combined to become the most successful group of players in LSU volleyball history.
The group combined for 60 wins, two NCAA tournament berths, 1,875 kills, 447 assists and 3,679 digs during their tenure.
Flory said the group, much like this season’s squad, was implemented into the starting lineup early, so they had to mature quicker than most young athletes do.
“We built it around them,” Flory said.
Lindelow said this season resembled much of her freshman season. Youth and injuries forced younger players to have bigger roles, and she expects this season’s young squad to continue to grow much like she and her fellow seniors did in 2012.
On Sunday, LSU dropped the first two sets to begin the match, 21-25 and 9-25. The undersized Tigers struggled placing their shots in the corners and sides and couldn’t defend the Wildcat attack.
Kentucky (19-9, 12-4 SEC) overpowered LSU in both sets with a hitting percentage of .333 in the opening set and .524 in the second set. LSU opened the match hitting a mere .158 in the first set and -.097 in the following set.
The Tigers trailed for most of the third set but rallied to tie it at 24 a piece.
“They came back and did a great job in the back half of the third set,” Flory said. “It’s hard whenever young players have to carry that much responsibility. We didn’t create enough for them.”
LSU lost to a determined Kentucky team on Sunday, extending its losing streak to seven games. Kentucky erased its two-game losing streak and remains in contention for competing for the conference title.
After two straight Kentucky kills, LSU was swept in straight sets for the ninth time this season.
“They’ve held out hope until the last minute,” Flory said. “Whenever we knew we couldn’t quite get it done, they remained loyal.”