It was a bittersweet weekend for the No. 16 LSU volleyball team.
The sweet part came Friday night when the Tigers (24-4, 15-4) swept South Carolina and Ole Miss fell to Kentucky, giving LSU its sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference Western Division championship. The win was also LSU’s 12th consecutive home victory.
Sunday wasn’t quite as satisfying.
The Tigers held senior day festivities following the match to honor their three outgoing players — outside hitter Angela Bensend, setter Brittney Johnson and outside hitter Tania Schatow. But before they could celebrate the careers of the three seniors, the top-ranked Florida Gators ruined the mood with a 3-1 victory against the Tigers.
“There’s a reason they’re No. 1, and they showed it in the clutch moments of this match,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “We had every opportunity in the second set, and I think that was the determining  factor in this match.”
The second set was a marathon that saw five lead changes and 17 ties before Florida finally pulled out a 33-31 victory.
The Tigers had two chances to put the set away but came up empty.
Although the Tigers lost the set, the energy created from the crowd helped propel them to a 27-25 third-set victory.
“The fans were fantastic, and it was great to have them all there,” Bensend said. “They supported us and got us through, and that’s what got us to where we were.”
The fourth set wrapped up the match with little drama, as the Gators took control and cruised to a 25-13 win.
Leading the way in the match was Florida senior outside hitter Callie Rivers.
Rivers — the daughter of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers — recorded 21 kills and hit a .410 clip for the match.
“Callie Rivers is the key to their team,” Flory said. “The bottom line is, as she goes, they go. So our plan was to attack Callie. I thought we were able to do that early in the match and get her flustered, but the problem was that their other kids finished.”
Despite the fact their final match did not end with the result they desired, the seniors have all relished their time in the PMAC, especially Johnson — a Baton Rouge native.
LSU will wrap up its regular season Wednesday when it travels to Arkansas.
From there, the Tigers will await their seeding and placement  in the NCAA tournament.
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]