GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU volleyball team ousted Southeastern Conference Western Division champion Alabama from the SEC Tournament on Friday with a 7-15, 15-13, 15-11, 15-7 win in Gainesville, Fla.
The win is the first for LSU (14-14) in the tournament since a 3-0 victory over Tennessee in 1993. The Tigers had lost eight straight tournament matches since then, including seven in opening round play.
“This is an important win for us. We are playing for the SEC Tournament Championship,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “We haven’t won in the tournament in a while and for us to beat a good Alabama team is a little bit of a sweet revenge for us because they won the West and we felt like we could be in that position.”
LSU will face No. 6 seed Georgia in the semifinal round as the Bulldogs upset No. 3 South Carolina, 3-2, earlier in the day. The Bulldogs downed the Tigers, 3-0, in the teams previous meeting this season.
“We have one more step to reach the final and I think the road is paved for us,” Flory stated. “We are anxious to play Georgia again and the match up is just what we had hoped so we’ll see.”
After losing the opening game, LSU rallied to win games two through four with late runs in each. Unlike the previous two matches this season with Alabama in which the Tigers squandered often late leads, LSU held on to each advantage it could gain on Friday night.
“We were determined to win this match. We weren’t going to let anyone get in between us and the semifinals. We made plays when we had to. And I think we controlled what happened and didn’t wait for them to make errors,” Flory added.
LSU’s balanced attack kept Alabama off track all night as five Tiger players had between 11 and 13 kills on the evening. Senior Lauren O’Conner came off the bench to run the offense to near perfection as she posted 41 assists.
“Lauren O’Conner did a great job of coming in and setting for Katie (Kubena),” said Flory. “She has been a captain for us all season and she really came through for us tonight.”
Middle blockers Lauren Cuyler and Meagan Davis led the way for the Tigers as the posted .346 and .400 attack percentages. Cuyler also had a match-high seven blocks.
“When it came down to it, our middles did a better job than Alabama’s did and that is why we won the match,” said Flory of Cuyler and Davis’ play.
Game two proved to be close throughout with several ties and lead changes. Then, with Alabama leading 12-10, LSU scored five unanswered to take the game and knot the match at one game a piece. Cuyler was the spark for the Tigers with five kills on just six attempts to go along with two blocks.
In a back-and-forth game three, LSU ran off four consecutive points to break an 11-11 deadlock take a two-games-to-one lead. The Tigers balanced offense proved to be too much for the Crimson Tide as Cuyler, Davis and Jill Lytle combined for 13 kills compared to only two errors in the game.
Riding its momentum into game four, LSU raced out to a 5-2 lead. It was a lead the Tigers would never surrender as they finished off the Crimson Tide.
Alabama jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in game one and held off a late LSU rally to take the victory. The Tigers managed to hold off three game points before succumbing.
LSU looked good at times as it outkilled the Crimson Tide 16-14 in the game. However, it was the Tigers 13 errors to just four for Alabama that did them in. Michelle Green’s six kills paced the Crimson Tide.
The match was broadcast by College Sports Southeast and will be aired on Friday, Nov. 24 at 10 p.m. CST.