In a match that looked to pin two evenly matched teams, the Tennessee Volunteers easily out-played the Tigers to win the match 25-23, 19-25, 28-30, 15-25.
LSU (7-13, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) faced the University of Tennessee (16-5, 7-2 SEC) on Sunday afternoon in the PMAC, but despite winning a thrilling first set, LSU lost the match in four sets.
As with much of the season, LSU came out the gates slowly against a highly technical Volunteers team and went down 13-6 early. Instead of turning over, the Tigers came back firing with an aggressive offensive strategy.
With the help of their best outside hitter, sophomore Taylor Bannister, and sophomore defensive specialist Raigen Cianciulli, LSU came all the way back and took the first set from Tennessee 25-23.
LSU hoped to continue the momentum into the second set, but they looked like a different team the rest of the way. The Volunteers took the second set easily 25-19 behind powerful play from their outside hitters.
After an easy second set, the third set proved to be the best and most competitive of the afternoon.
Set three was the deciding point in the match and showed the prowess of both teams. In a constant back and forth battle, LSU looked to have the set as they took the lead 23-21. The set continued until Tennessee finally closed it up 30-28.
The loss completely deflated the young Tigers en route to a tough fourth set that ended 25-15 in favor of the Volunteers.
Coach Fran Flory contributes this tough loss to a combination of effort and intensity.
“When you play a team that is going to play that hard, it’s hard to win,” Flory said. “They fought harder than we did today.”
After losing in a match that was not close in the end, Flory was not happy with her team’s effort and play.
“I’ll just start by saying that I am disappointed in our effort today,” Flory said. “There was no attention to detail. Losing that third set broke us.”
While this is not the brightest moment in LSU’s volleyball history, Flory will always look to improve her team this season.
“We have tried almost every conceivable combination of players this year,” Flory said. “We will not quit. We will continue to try and find the right combination.”