The LSU volleyball team split a pair of Southeastern Conference games at home last weekend.
The Tigers opened the weekend slate with a thrilling 3-2 victory against rival Auburn on Friday in the PMAC. However, LSU could not continue the momentum in the second game of the weekend, falling to Alabama 3-0 on Sunday.
“I am disappointed in our performance,” said coach Fran Flory. “We earned some opportunities in the first game to come back, and I think we lost some of our confidence when we did not come through with the win. We worked hard and really earned our way back into the match and then to give it away on silly errors was unfortunate.”
The Tigers had game point against Alabama in the first game of the match, 30-29. But LSU was unable to capitalize, allowing Alabama to escape game one with a 34-32 victory.
Alabama never looked back after the first game, capturing game two in convincing fashion, 30-16, and game three, 30-26.
Regan Hood fueled the Tigers with 12 kills, five blocks and eight digs against Bama. Kassi Mikulik chipped in with 14 digs, five kills and one assist for the Tigers.
“I don’t think we went up against a team that was really superior to us,” Flory said. “Give credit to Alabama because they outplayed us. But we made mental errors and silly mistakes that gave them the game.”
Against Auburn, LSU lost the first two games of the match, 31-29, 30-26. But LSU fought out of the 0-2 deficit to record the 3-2 victory.
The Tigers responded well in games three and four, recording the victories to tie the match at two. In the deciding game, Auburn jumped out to a 7-4 lead. But the Tigers used a 6-0 run to take the lead 10-7 and never relinquished the lead, winning 15-13.
Flory blamed the slow start to the loss of Megan Heinz, who sprained her ankle early in the match.
“Without Megan we spent the first two games trying to figure out who was going to provide what in terms of our spirit and competitiveness,” Flory said. “I think we were trying too hard.”
The Tigers found a spark in freshman Lauren Leaumont, who led the team with 19 kills. Hood added 17 kills and 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
LSU (7-10, 2-3 SEC) hits the road this weekend to battle rivals Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Flory said with the SEC schedule in full swing, this is the most vital part of the season.
“The key to your season is to win matches in your division,” Flory said. “We’ve got two key matches this week in our division and both are on the road. We need to come away with a pair of wins.”