The No. 12 LSU volleyball team split wins and losses against Southeastern Conference competition this past weekend, sweeping the University of Auburn 3-0 and being swept by No. 7 University of Florida.
LSU’s performance this past weekend dropped the Tigers to 16-3 on the season and 8-2 in SEC play. LSU is now tied with the University of Alabama for the SEC West division lead and sits one game behind Florida in the overall SEC standings.
Despite going 1-1 on the weekend, the Tigers moved up one spot into a tie for No. 12 in this week’s AVCA/CSTV Coaches poll.
Alabama snapped the Tigers’ 13-game winning streak Oct. 8, but LSU rebounded with a 30-24, 30-23, 30-24 victory against Auburn on Friday night.
LSU Coach Fran Flory said following the game that she was proud of the team’s performance following a loss.
“I’m really proud of the step forward that we took,” Flory said in a news release. “We fought hard, and we made the plays when we needed to make them. We overcame errors on our side, and we maintained a very balanced attitude. I think this was a great match for us.”
The Tigers’ offense was running on all cylinders Friday as three members of the team posted double-figure kills in the victory. Sophomore outside hitter Marina Skender had 14 kills, while freshman middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo and sophomore outside hitter Kyna Washington recorded 12 each.
The experienced Tigers players anchored the defensive attack in the match. Senior libero Kassi Mikulik and senior setter Daniela Romero led the team with 11 and 10 digs respectively.
Auburn coach Laura Farina said in a news release that the game came down to LSU capitalizing on Auburn’s missed opportunities.
“LSU made the most of their opportunities tonight, and we didn’t,” she said.
The Tigers looked like a completely different team Sunday afternoon, losing three straight games to Florida, 30-26, 30-22 and 30-22.
LSU took early leads of 8-6 and 12-8 in the first and second games, but quick runs by the Gators kept them in the game and eventually gave Florida the win.
Skender recorded a double-double for LSU with 16 kills and 10 digs.
DeGirolamo added nine kills, and Skender and senior middle blocker Melody Clark led the Tigers with three blocks each.
Flory said she believes the team will learn from such a hard-fought match against a highly ranked opponent.
“This is a great lesson for us,” Flory said. “I think this team will get better from this match. One match is not going to define our season positively or negatively. We know we will just get back in the gym and get better and get ready for next weekend.”
Flory said mistakes cost her team the match.
“For every mistake that we made, Florida made us pay, and we did not do a good job of taking care of the ball,” she said. “We never really got in sync offensively.”
Florida coach Mary Wise said the victory against LSU was great, but there are many SEC matches left to play, including a Nov. 3 match against LSU in the PMAC.
“There are so many matches left, including a match at LSU,” Wise said in a news release. “It’s one thing to beat teams at home, and it’s another to do it on the road.”
—–Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]