Two days after exacting their revenge against No. 7-seed Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, No. 2-seed LSU has the opportunity to knock off another foe that handed them a regular season loss.Tennessee is one of three teams to beat LSU in the regular season. The Tigers (14-3-1, 7-3-1) and the Volunteers (9-10-1, 5-5-1) will face off once again today at 5 p.m. in the SEC tournament semifinals.The No. 6-seed Volunteers defeated higher-seeded Auburn, 2-1, Wednesday to advance to the second round of the tournament.The Tigers were in the midst of one of the program’s best starts ever at 7-0 until the Rebels and Volunteers handed them back-to-back losses.Ole Miss handed LSU its first loss on Sept. 28, and Tennessee followed suit Oct. 3.The Volunteers went up, 2-0, early in the second half of against the Tigers, and LSU left Knoxville, Tenn., with a 2-1 loss.”I remember we played very well in that game,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “Both of their goals came right after halftime. There was about a 20-minute period after halftime where we couldn’t match their intensity, and it cost us.”LSU rattled off five-straight wins after suffering those two losses before tying with South Carolina and losing to Florida in the second to last week of the season.LSU beat Arkansas last Friday to clinch its second-ever SEC West title and a No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament — the highest seed in LSU history.Lee said he used a strategy against Ole Miss in the first round that would help his team be more prepared for a second-round match. “We rotated a lot of players in the game against Ole Miss,” he said. “That should help to make sure we’re fresh for [Tennessee].”The Tigers are 1-10 all-time against the Volunteers, and the last time these two teams met in the SEC tournament — in 2005 — Tennessee shut out LSU, 2-0.Lee said he now knows what LSU has to do to beat Tennessee and is confident in the Tigers’ ability to win despite the teams’ history.”I remember they have several players who are very dangerous, so we can’t give them any opportunities,” he said. “This is a goal-driven team. We’re excited about the win [against Ole Miss], and we expect to achieve better results.”If LSU wins tonight, it would face the winner of the No. 1 seed Florida and No. 4 seed Georgia’s semifinal match. The SEC tournament finals will be held Sunday afternoon.—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]
Tigers seek revenge against Vols
By Johanathan Brooks
Contributing Writer
Contributing Writer
November 6, 2008