The LSU volleyball team played in front of the most fans it has ever seen Friday.More than anybody has ever seen, for that matter.LSU lost to No. 2 Nebraska, 3-0, Friday then rebounded to beat St. John’s, 3-1, Saturday in the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln, Neb.The Tigers’ (5-2) match against Nebraska came before an NCAA-record 13,412 fans.”It was motivating because there were so many people that cared about volleyball,” said senior libero Elena Martinez. “They were all very supportive.”LSU coach Fran Flory said the crowd wasn’t a negative factor against the Tigers.”They appreciate great volleyball,” Flory said. “They were a very polite crowd for 13,000 people.”The Cornhuskers led the Tigers in several statistical categories, including digs (46-39), assists (41-31), blocks (7-3) and hitting percentage (.387-.109).LSU held leads early in sets one and three but was unable to hold on against the defending Big 12 Conference champions.”We saw a glimpse of what we’re capable of,” Flory said. “We were not prepared to do that long enough to stay with Nebraska.”After the tough loss to the Cornhuskers, the Tigers used 16 blocks to beat the Red Storm in their second game of the tournament. St. John’s had only two blocks in the match.”Blocking was a huge point of emphasis on our training this past week,” Flory said. “We served well, but we didn’t block well against Nebraska. [Saturday] we put those two things together.”Senior outside hitter Kyna Washington had nine of those blocks, along with 14 of the team’s 55 kills against the Red Storm. Washington finished with 21 kills on the weekend.Martinez picked up her 1,000th career dig against St. John’s after racking up 25 digs on the weekend. She now has 1,004 career digs, ninth-best in LSU history.”Elena is a special player,” Flory said. “Special players make coaches look really good.”Washington and Martinez were named to the all-tournament team, and Nebraska senior outside hitter Jordan Larson was named Most Valuable Player.The Tigers began Southeastern Conference play this weekend on the road against South Carolina on Friday and Florida on Sunday.”We’re ready to get back in the gym,” Martinez said. “We’re going to take [Sunday] off and then get back in the gym [Monday].”—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]