MANHATTAN, Kan. — After a 26 hour trip from Baton Rouge, the LSU volleyball team battled to the end, but ultimately dropped a four-game match to Colorado State, 30-21, 30-23, 27-30, 30-13, in the first match of the Wildcat Classic at Bramlage Coliseum on Friday night.
Delayed overnight in Dallas, Texas without luggage or a change of clothes due to weather, what should have been an eight-hour trip from Baton Rouge, turned into a 26 -hour odyssey for the Tigers. After leaving the LSU campus at 11 a.m. on Thursday morning, the Tigers finally arrived in Manhattan, Kan., at 1:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
Despite the travel hardships, the Tigers gave the Rams a hard-fought match to the end. LSU drops to 3-4 overall with the loss, while Colorado State, which is receiving votes in the national polls, improves to 6-2.
Junior Regan Hood led LSU and the match with 20 kills. The Carrollton, Texas, native also recorded three block solos. Lauren Leaumont and Kassi Mikulik each added 10 kills for the Tigers, while Leaumont also had a pair of service aces. Christie Ruttley, seeing the first action of her collegiate career, led the team with seven digs, followed by Leaumont with six and Hood with six.
“I was proud of the way we fought today,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “I thought we made some good progress. Kassi (Mikulik) and Lauren (Leaumont) did a nice job at executing the things that we have been working on and asking them to do. Regan (Hood) improved today and is a great leader for this team and played like it today. She proved that she can play with the big dogs and hold her own.”
Colorado State was led by Bri French with 13 kills, followed by Katie Jo Shirley with 12 and Becky Sarauer with 11. Shirley led the match with eight digs and five blocks while Melissa Courtney had a game-high four service aces.
With the score tied at four in the first game, Colorado State went on a 10-4 run to jump out to a 14-8 lead. The Rams extended the lead to 11 points, 25-14, before LSU stormed back to cut the lead to six, 29-21. A kill by Tess Rogers closed out the game for Colorado State, however, 30-21.
In the second game, the Tigers rebounded from a .107 hitting percentage in the first game to record a .300 mark, but it was not enough as the Rams hit at a .444 clip. Seven kills by Hood led the way for LSU, who also recorded her third solo block of the match, after two in game one.
The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead. With the scored tied at six, the Rams used a 4-0 run to build a 10-6 lead. Colorado State build its advantage to six, 22-16, before a 4-2 run by LSU cut that lead to four, but the Tigers could get no closer. A 6-3 run by the Rams ended the game, 30-23.
LSU fell behind early in the third game, 11-4, and trailed much of the game. Down 23-15, the Tigers mounted a dramatic comeback that began with back-to-back kills by Lacey Galliano and Mikulik.
Trailing 27-23, Lauren began a 7-0 run for LSU with a kill. After a Rams error, Melody Clark recorded back-to-back kills and a block along with a second CSU error that gave the Tigers the lead. A service ace by Beth Cowley closed out the game for LSU, 30-27.
In the fourth game, Colorado State used a 10-0 run to break a 4-4 tie and put the game out of reach. The Rams went on to close out the game and the match, 30-13.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday against No. 12 Kansas State at 11 a.m. before closing out tournament play against South Florida at 5 p.m.