The No. 18 LSU volleyball team made a living early in the season as one of the best teams in the Southeastern Conference in five-game matches. The Tigers entered this past weekend 4-0 this season in matches where they were pushed to the limit. After their two matches Friday and Sunday, their record now stands at 4-2. The Tigers (15-4, 7-3) squandered their Southeastern Conference Western Division lead after losing on the road 3-2 to both Tennessee and Kentucky. Sunday’s loss against Kentucky might have been the toughest the Tigers have suffered this season. The match with the Wildcats (16-5, 7-3) was the first time this season that LSU trailed 2-0 in a five-game match. With Ole Miss’ two weekend wins against Kentucky and Tennessee, the Rebels (17-4, 7-3) now have a one-half game lead over the Tigers in the SEC West standings. Ole Miss and LSU meet for the second time this season Wednesday night in the PMAC. “I am really disappointed in the loss,” LSU coach Fran Flory said. “I thought our middles played well enough for us to win the match, but I don’t think we had the balance we needed offensively.” The Tigers’ stat sheet proved to be misleading for the second straight contest. LSU out-killed, out-digged and tallied more assists than both of its weekend opponents. But the statistic that mattered most, the final score, did not go the Tigers’ way in either match. Flory said her team’s lack of a big play contributed to the two losses. “For the second time in two matches, we could not come up with the big play at the time when we had to have the big play,” Flory said. “We made errors rather than aggressively attacking and being sure within our offense.” Junior outside hitter Kyna Washington led the Tigers over the weekend with 44 kills, including 26 against Tennessee. Sophomore middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo had a career-high of 21 kills against the Volunteers and added 19 more against Kentucky.
—-Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]