Halloween at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center was a night full of costumes and LSU volleyball.
LSU took on Mississippi State to start the final week of its four-match home stretch.
Heading into the match, both LSU and MSU were on a three-match losing streak and looked to break those. The Tigers had a 67-13 all time record against the Bulldogs, but MSU headed into the matchup with a top five defense in the SEC.
Mississippi State’s defense would ultimately live up to its reputation, as the Tigers dropped the match 25-20, 18-25, 16-25, 21-25 after MSU held LSU to a .179 hitting percentage throughout the match. The Tigers are now 10-12 overall and 3-8 against conference opponents.
The match began with the Tigers having the first serve. Small errors by the Bulldogs gave the home team an early 3-2 lead.
In its last three games, LSU has been harmed by consistent deflections that have gone out of bounds. Friday night, those same deflections would be present in the first set. Still, despite net violations from the Tigers that allowed MSU to stay in the game, LSU led 15-14 heading into the official media timeout.
The Tigers were the first to reach 20 points on the scoreboard, MSU trailing behind at 17 before going on a two-point run to secure another tied set.
MSU took its final timeout of the set with LSU leading 22-19. Following the timeout, an ace by Jessica Jones and another kill by Washington would fire up the Tigers, who have lost their last six sets of volleyball. The Bulldogs finally reached 20, but it was no match for the Tigers as an out of bounds kill gave LSU the first set 25-20.
The first set sparked hope for Tiger fans at the PMAC. LSU’s defense held Mississippi to a .075 attack percentage while outside hitter Jurnee Robinson led the offense with six kills and a .395 hitting percentage in the first set alone.
Everything would fall apart from there.
In the second, MSU’s defense would fuel a 2-0 run for the Bulldogs take a quick lead. LSU was forced to take its first timeout with Bulldogs leading 8-4. An under the net call on LSU would add another point on the board for the Bulldogs following the timeout.
A final LSU timeout would be burned with the Bulldogs leading 16-1. The Tigers went on a 3-0 run and a huge block by Jones forced a MSU timeout, but the Bulldogs were the first to reach 20 points unlike the first set. MSU eventually took the second 25-18.
The third began with both teams hungry to take a 2-1 set advantage and a very frustrated LSU that dropped the second.
A lost LSU challenge gave the Bulldogs an early 3-1 lead, but Robinson and Washington kills would tie 7-7. LSU was forced to take a timeout trailing 14-17.
Again, MSU was the first to 20 and forced LSU’s final timeout with the team trailing four points behind. The Bulldogs then went on a five point run to take the set 25-16
In the fourth, the Tigers took an early 4-1 lead after a visibly frustrated head coach Tonya Johnson led a lengthy huddle to regroup her team.
Despite the efforts, the Bulldogs came back and scored 3 straight points to tie the set. Huge rallies from LSU occurred with the team leading 5-4, but Bulldogs won the battle once more to tie again. MSU was later forced to take its first timeout after the Tigers were able to tie the score 11-11.
LSU gained an 18-17 lead, but Mississippi State was eager to take this set and finish out the match without going to five.
The Bulldogs retaliated once more to tie 19-19 and were the first to get to 20 for the third-straight set, this time the Tigers only one point behind with a huge amount of momentum to attempt to tie the set once more.
Tiger efforts were no use against MSU’s outside hitter Lindsey Mangelson, who produced four consecutive kills to help the Bulldogs take set four 25-21, handing the Tigers their fourth straight loss.
From an offensive standpoint, the Tigers clearly have what it takes to pull off a win in tight situations like this match. Robinson finished the night 18 kills and 11 digs and Washington was right behind with 16 kills and 12 digs. Right side Tireh Smith landed nine kills and Jones tallied on four more to conclude the night.
In terms of defense, Mississippi State’s offense simply overpowered LSU’s ability to keep the ball alive.
For the now 10-12 Tigers, this loss stings a little more as the regular season draws to a near end. With only four more regular season matches, this was crucial for their efforts to turn their record around. A heartbreaking loss would leave this team visibly frustrated.
To finish out the weekend, LSU will battle Ole Miss in hopes to break its losing streak for the Senior Day match, honoring Washington and pin hitter Ana Tevdoradze.
