BATON ROUGE — In an offensive display between two of the top offensive teams in the Southeastern Conference, ninth-ranked Florida escaped the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday with a 30-27, 30-26, 30-21 win over LSU.
?I think we outplayed Florida significantly in games one and games two,? said LSU coach Fran Flory ?But we had too many unforced errors after 25 points and you can?t do that against a top 10 team.?
LSU (12-7, 7-3 SEC), which had its seven-match home win streak snapped, was in position to win both games one and two, but failed to execute late in the games as Florida (15-1, 10-0 SEC) built a 2-0 lead.
?We should, at the break, have been up 2-0 instead of down 0-2. It was really a lack of execution for us and that is very disappointing,? Flory noted. ?We need to be better than that, tougher than that. We can?t be a team that gives up that many errors.?
After falling behind 6-1 early in the first frame, the Tigers continuously chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the game at 17-17. But a kill by Benavia Jenkins and a pair of service aces by Aury Cruz stretched the lead back to three. Again LSU fought back as it tied the game at 24 and 25. However, the Gators never relinquished the lead in taking the game.
The second game looked to be where LSU would even the score as it raced out to an early 6-3 lead. Florida battled back and briefly held a lead at 8-7, but the Tigers retook control of the game and led by as many as four midway through the game. The Gators never gave in and tied the frame at 20.
Going back and forth, the game would be tied at 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 26 before Florida proved to be too strong. Three consecutive hitting errors after leading 26-25 were too much to overcome for the Tigers.
?We tried to make too big of a play instead of trying to do the little things that we had been doing that were successful against them,? Flory said. ?I am very excited about the level we played at tonight, but at the same time I am disappointed that we didn?t get a game out of here.?
Cruz, the favorite for SEC Player of the Year, was dominant in racking up 22 kills en route to a .432 hitting percentage. Jenkins also reached double-figures with 12 as the Gators hit .273 on the evening with 52 kills.
The LSU defense gave a valiant effort led by Jennifer Hampton?s 17 digs.
Meagan Davis also reached double-figures with 12 digs and was the Tigers top offensive threat as she hit .444 with eight kills.
Offensively, LSU matched Florida swing for swing in the first two games before faltering slightly in the third stanza. The Tigers ended up hitting .188 on the match, including .297 in the opening game. Freshman Kyra Lancon also reached double-figures in kills with 10.
The Tigers opened strong again in game three and led 10-9 before a controversial call seemed to take the wind out of their sails. A late lift was called on LSU that led to a 10-10 tie and started a six-point run for the Gators that all but ended any hope of a Tiger victory. The lead hit double-digits at 22-12 and Florida coasted to the match win.
LSU will be back in action on Friday when it hosts Georgia in a 6:30 p.m. match. The match will be broadcast live by Fox Sports. There is a tailgate party beginning at 5 p.m. just outside of the PMAC that all fans are welcome to attend.