TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The LSU volleyball easily defeated Brown University, 3-0, then fought back from a 2-1 deficit before ultimately falling to Florida State, 3-2, in the nightcap of the Florida State Invitational on Friday in Lucy McDaniel Arena at Tully Gymnasium.
The Tigers (6-3) defeated Brown (1-3) in the first match of the day, 30-19, 30-19, 30-25. In the marquee matchup of the tournament, LSU fell to Florida State, 22-30, 30-24, 30-24, 27-30, 15-13. The Tigers will close out the tournament against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Lady Cajuns went 1-1 on Friday, defeating Brown 3-0 and falling to Florida State 3-2.
After LSU easily defeated the Semioles in the first game of the match, Florida State rebounded to take the next two games and was within five points of winning the match when LSU mounted a comeback. The Tigers outscored FSU 10-2 in game four to force a final game. After falling behind 11-5, LSU once again fought from behind to pull to within one, but at game point the Tigers could not get a crucial block up the middle and FSU closed out the match.
“I think we did a very poor job of maintaining our level of focus and intensity throughout the match against Florida State,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We started the game with a great flow and I thought we had the match won after the first game, but we let them back into it in game two. We need to be more confidant in our abilities in game five.”
Four Tigers finished with double-figures in kills, led by Lauren Cuyler with 18, while hitting at a .500 clip. Jennifer Hampton recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 17 kills and 13 digs. Regan Hood added 16 kills and Katie Kubena had 10 kills as the team finished with a season-best .347 hitting percentage for the match.
The Tigers jumped out early in the first game, taking a 5-0 lead and extending that to 10-3. Florida State used a 7-3 run to cut the lead to three points, 13-10. Powerful hitting at a .515 clip helped LSU build its advantage and pull away from the Seminoles. The Tigers held as much as a nine-point lead late in the game before finally putting it away on a kill by Hood, 30-22.
After taking an early 4-1 lead in the second game, LSU seemed to loose the swing it had in the first game. Although the Tigers finished with a .379 hitting percentage, the Tigers recorded seven fewer kills than in game one while also recording four service errors.
Florida State pulled even at four and then took its first lead of the match 7-6. The Tigers held close, but with the game tied 15-15, the Seminoles used a 9-4 run to build a five-point lead before going on to close out the game 30-24.
LSU struggled with its swing again in the third game, recording only eight kills for a .100 hitting percentage. Florida State jumped out to the 10-6 lead, but the Tigers rallied to tie the game at 13. A 7-3 run by the Seminoles put FSU up by four points and the Tigers took their first timeout of the game.
The Seminoles followed that with a 6-3 run to take a 26-19 lead before LSU called its final time out of the game. Out of the timeout, LSU scored four straight points to cut the lead to three points and forced Florida State to use a timeout. The Seminoles came out of the timeout and scored four of the next five points to take the game 30-24.
In the fourth game the Tigers jumped out to the 9-5 lead before Florida State came back to tie the game at 12. Florida State then took the lead and stretched it to a five-point advantage 25-20. With the match on the line, the Tigers found their swing once again. LSU mounted a rally, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to take the game 30-27 and send the match to the decisive game five.
Against Brown, the Tigers took the lead in game one and never looked back, dominating the Bears the remainder of the match. After the first game was tied early at three, LSU went on a 13-0 run as Rachel Vogt served 12 straight points for the Tigers. With LSU leading 20-7, Brown put together a small rally to cut into the 13-point Tiger lead. LSU had game point four times before putting away the Bears easily, 30-19.
The second game started out much closer, with LSU leading by just four points midway through the game, 15-11. With the Tigers leading 18-13, LSU pulled away using a 10-3 run to widen the lead to 10 points, 28-18 before taking the second game 30-19.
Leading the match 2-0, the Tigers jumped out early in game three, 8-2, but Brown would not go away quietly. After using early leads and big runs to easily defeat the Bears in games one and two, LSU could not pull away from Brown in the third game. With the Tigers largest lead of the match, 27-20, the Bears used a 4-1 run to cut the lead to four before LSU finally put the game away, 30-25, and ensure the victory.