MANHATTAN, Kan. — The LSU volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the Wildcat Classic on Saturday in Bramledge Coliseum, falling to No. 12 Kansas State, 30-15, 30-14, 30-14, before losing a hard-fought four-game match to South Florida, 27-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-26.
With the losses the Tigers fall to 3-6 on the season. The nationally ranked Wildcats improved to 9-2 on the year, while South Florida improved to 5-5.
Kansas State, playing with eight upperclassmen, defeated the Tigers in three games. LSU countered the veteran Wildcats with three juniors and five freshmen. The youth and inexperience caught up with the Tigers, who could not overcome the high-powered KSU team.
“We need to continue to grow and develop as a team,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We made some good strides this weekend but they weren’t big enough to win and that’s what we have to do. We fought hard, but we just didn’t fight all the way to the end.”
In the second match, LSU came in and took the first game before dropping three close games in the loss to South Florida, the defending Conference USA champions.
“I think we just ran out of gas at the end,” said Flory. “We did a poor job of executing. We earned some great opportunities, but we just didn’t finish the plays. That is disappointing because that is something we have been working on.”
Regan Hood led the Tigers again USF with a career-high 24 kills. The junior also recorded three blocks and seven digs. Freshman Lauren Leaumont also recorded a career-high with 21 kills, finishing with a double-double by adding a team-best 13 digs.
Freshman Melody Clark led the Tigers with five blocks, while Kassi Mikulik had 12 digs for LSU. Junior Beth Cowley recorded a career-high with 51 assists and two blocks.
After trailing 10-5 in the first game, the Tigers rallied back to tie the game at 16 all. Neither team was able to take more than a three-point advantage from that point on. With the scored tied at 27, a kills by the Tigers and back-to-back errors by the Bulls gave LSU the game, 30-27.
In game two, South Florida once again jumped out to the early lead and led 20-13 before LSU used a 3-0 run to cut it down to a four-point Bulls lead. USF expanded the lead to as many as nine, 28-19, before the Tigers mounted a furious rally to cut it down to four points, 29-25, but could not close it out as the Rams took the game, 30-25.
With the scored tied a five in the third game, South Florida went on a 10-5 run to pull away, 15-9. The Tigers pulled to within four, 23-19, but could get no closer as the Bulls went on to win the game, 30-23.
In the third game, LSU went on a 9-3 run to break a 5-5 tie and take a 14-8 lead. The Bulls battled back to tie the game at 17. There would be one more tie before South Florida would take the lead for good at 22-21 and go on to win the game and the match, 30-26.
Hood led the Tigers with nine kills against Kansas State, followed by Mikulik with eight. Mikulik also led the team with five digs, while Rachel Pittman had four. Both Hood and Clark each recorded a block solo.
Despite hitting .240 for the first game, the Tigers could not overcome a .543 hitting percentage by Kansas State. LSU got a trio of kills by Hood, Leaumont and Mikulik. The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game. The Tigers fought back to 7-4, but could get no closer as KSU slowly pulled away for the 30-15 victory.
In the second game, LSU held the Wildcats to 15 kills, after they recorded 21 in the first game. Hood and Mikulik each posted three kills for LSU as the Tigers posted 11 kills. The difference in the game was a .583 hitting percentage and eight-dig advantage by Kansas State that allowed them to take the 30-14 win.
The Tigers took an early 3-1 lead on the Wildcats in game three. Kansas State then used a 12-2 run to pull away for a 13-5 advantage. The Wildcats went on to take the game and the match, 30-14, as Hood led the team with three kills in the final game.
The Tigers return to action next weekend at the Mean Green Classic in Denton, Texas. LSU will take on Oral Roberts on Friday at 5 p.m. before battling UTEP on Saturday at 11 a.m. and closing out the tournament against host North Texas at 7 p.m.
2003 Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team:
Valeria Hejjas – Kansas State
Regan Hood – LSU
Lisa Martin – Kansas State
Becky Sarauer – Colorado State
Katie Jo Shirley – Colorado State
Most Valuable Player: Lauren Goehring – Kansas State