The No. 20 LSU volleyball team, who had lost three straight matches to No. 7 Kentucky, seemed poised to get redemption Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.The Tigers (15-5, 9-2) led two sets to one before the Wildcats (20-2, 10-1) caught fire and rallied to capture a five-set, 3-2, victory.”Our team played well, and it was a great match,” said LSU coach Fran Flory in a news release. “We fought extremely hard and played with great desire. We couldn’t finish in the end, and I thought we played safe when the match was on the line. Kentucky played with a lot of confidence and made plays when they have the opportunity where we didn’t.”The victory gives Kentucky a one-game lead on LSU for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings, as well as control of the tie-breaker with LSU as a result of sweeping the season series.”I am just very proud of our team,” said Kentucky coach Craig Skinner following the match. “LSU was great tonight and put us in a big hole, but for us to be able to respond and be aggressive like that is a huge credit to our team.”Kentucky dominated the fourth set, 25-15. LSU’s team hitting percentage in the set was .000.The Tigers had a chance to close the match, holding an 11-10 advantage in the fifth set before the Wildcats went on a 5-1 tear to close the match with a 15-12 victory.The loss is the first for LSU since Sept. 20 when Kentucky defeated LSU in three sets in the PMAC.Kentucky junior outside hitter Sarah Mendoza led all players with 21 kills. Two other Wildcats recorded double-digit kills as well. Junior outside hitter Blair Hiler had 13, and sophomore middle blocker Gretchen Giesler matched her career-high with 11.LSU senior outside hitter Marina Skender led the Tigers with a double-double, matching her season high in kills with 19 and adding 10 digs. “Marina [Skender] mixed up shots, and [senior setter] Sam [Dabbs] used her well,” Flory said. “She served tough and played excellent defense to allow her to contribute to an all-around solid performance.”LSU tallied 17 blocks as a team, including three solo blocks from senior middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo.DeGirolamo also added 16 digs and nine blocks. The Wildcats also struggled to shut down LSU senior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper. Cooper finished the match with 17 kills.Sophomore libero Lauren Waclawczyk also tallied 16 digs.Sophomore middle blocker Michele Williams was the only Tiger to end the match with a hitting percentage above .300, finishing with a .333 mark.LSU now moves on to prepare for a road match tonight against red-hot Tennessee (15-5, 8-2) in Knoxville. The Volunteers have won nine of their last 10 matches, including a four-set victory against Kentucky on Wednesday.Junior outside hitter Nikki Folwer led Tennessee in the match against Kentucky. Fowler recorded 20 kills and 17 digs, the 25th double-double of her career and her fourth in as many matches.Flory said the Tigers must be ready for a tough battle against a solid Tennessee squad.”I don’t know that Tennessee is getting the credit that maybe they deserve,” Flory said. “Tennessee produces a completely different set of problems for us.”—-Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]