The LSU volleyball team had revenge on its mind this past weekend against Kentucky and Tennessee. While LSU (20-6, 11-5) has not regained the Southeastern Conference Western Division lead, the Tigers stayed in the hunt for a division title with a five-game win against Kentucky on Friday and a sweep of Tennessee on Sunday in the PMAC. The Wildcats and Lady Vols both defeated the Tigers in five-game matches three weekends ago on the road. LSU coach Fran Flory said after Sunday’s match that revenge was the Tigers’ main motivation this past weekend. “I think our team’s attitude was that those were two matches that kind of got away from us,” Flory said. “We pushed the team really hard this week. We asked them to recommit [to winning], and they did a nice job. The question mark is, ‘Will we be disciplined and bring that every single day?'” Those road losses to Kentucky and Tennessee coupled with a six-match winning streak by Alabama, factored into the Tigers relinquishing its SEC Western Division lead. Alabama (15-10,12-4) had its winning streak snapped Friday night against Georgia but rebounded with a 3-1 win against Auburn on Sunday. The Tigers now sit one match behind the Crimson Tide for the SEC West lead. LSU has had little trouble winning in the PMAC this season. The Tigers have won seven straight home matches and have not lost in the PMAC since a 3-1 loss to Florida in late September. Away from Baton Rouge is where the Tigers have struggled. They played four matches on the road in October and came away with no wins. “We kind of backed ourselves into a corner,” said junior libero Elena Martinez. “We probably didn’t play as hard or as efficiently as we should have against certain teams. We left ourselves no choice but to win.” LSU hits the road this weekend for the final time this season. The Tigers face Mississippi State on Friday and SEC West-leading Alabama on Sunday. Tennessee coach Rob Patrick said the Tigers’ weekend wins were more than just revenge. They came in ready to play, and our kids weren’t really ready,” Patrick said. “They’re playing for an NCAA bid, so they are going to play hard against us and anyone else.” Junior right side hitter Marina Skender led the Tigers for the weekend with 35 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo had 30 kills and 17 blocks, including five solo blocks, in the two weekend matches. Senior middle blocker Nicole Britenriker led Kentucky on Friday with 19 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Leah Hinkey and freshman right side hitter Nikki Fowler led Tennessee with 11 kills each against LSU. Aside from the team accomplishment, the weekend was also full of personal achievements for LSU. Sunday, Skender became the 15th LSU player to record 1,000 career kills, and Martinez broke the Tigers’ single-season dig mark in Friday’s match. “My family members keep track of that stuff because I’m the only girl,” Martinez said. “I knew about it but wasn’t really thinking about it during the match. Afterward, it’s exciting to look back on.”
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