ATHENS, Ga. — Service woes hurt the Tigers as the LSU volleyball team dropped a three-game match to Georgia, 30-19, 30-21, 30-23, in the Ramsey Center on Friday night.
With the loss, the Tigers fell to 11-15 overall and 6-7 in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs improved to 15-10 on the year and 8-5 in league play.
“We did a very poor job of preparing,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “This was the first time that our ball control and our serve were a true negative. This was the fist time that we had a complete breakdown in those areas and you can’t be successful against a good team when that happens. Give credit to Georgia for taking advantage of every opportunity we gave them tonight.”
Although Georgia recorded just four more kills than the Tigers, LSU hit at just a .162 clip, having trouble with Georgia’s serve the entire match. While the Bulldogs recorded seven service aces, the Tigers also committed 10 service errors, the most they have committed in a three-game match since they recorded 12 in a win over New Orleans on Sept. 6.
Georgia recorded a .409 team hitting percentage, the second-highest mark the Tigers have allowed this season and the highest LSU has allowed in SEC play. In addition, the Bulldogs knocked down 12 blocks, including seven in the first game.
Regan Hood led the Tigers with 13 kills and two blocks, while hitting at a team-best .333 clip. Lauren Leaumont and Markeisha Constant each added seven kills, while Leaumont recorded a match-high eight digs.
Julia Petruschke and Alexandra Oquendo both recorded in double-figures for Georgia with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Oquendo led the match with eight blocks. The Tigers countered with a .162 hitting percentage and five blocks.
In the first game, with the score tied at 13, Georgia went on a 3-0 run to take the 16-13 advantage. The Tigers got it back to a two-point game, 20-18, before the Bulldogs scored 10 of the final 11 points to take the game one, 30-19. Georgia recorded seven blocks and four service aces in the game, while hitting at a .433 clip in the win.
At 9-9 in the second game, Georgia went on a 5-1 run to jump out to the 14-10 lead. The Bulldogs expanded that lead to as many as nine, 23-14, before a 3-0 run by LSU cut it back to six, 23-17. With Georgia leading, 26-20, the Bulldogs rattled off three straight to send it to game point. The Tigers fought off game point on a kill by Hood before UGA took game two, 30-21.
In the third game, the Tigers used a 4-0 run to break an 8-8 tie and take a 12-8 lead early in the match. Georgia came back to tie the game at 14 before taking the lead, 15-14. With LSU leading 21-20, UGA went on a 7-0 run to pull away, 27-21. The Tigers did get it back to within five, 28-23, before the Bulldogs went on to close out the game and the match, 30-23.
The Tigers now travel to Gainesville, Fla. to take on third-ranked Gators. LSU will take on the Gators in the O’Connell Center on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Last season, the Tigers were the only team to take a regular-season SEC game from Florida. In addition, LSU snapped the Gators 31-game regular-season SEC home winning streak.