TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The LSU volleyball team lost a hard fought three-game match to Alabama on the road, 30-28, 30-18, 30-26, on Sunday afternoon in front of a rowdy crowd at the CAVE.
With the loss, the Tigers fell to 11-18 overall and concluded the Southeastern Conference regular season at 6-10. Alabama improved to 17-12 overall and 11-15 in league play.
LSU finished the season in third in the SEC Western Division and in a three-way tie for sixth place in the overall conference standings with South Carolina and Kentucky. Based on head-to-head results among the three tied teams, the Tigers should be the seventh seed in the conference tournament next weekend in Columbia, S.C. and take on Arkansas in the first round on Friday.
The Crimson Tide finished second in the Western Division and third overall. They should take on South Carolina in the first round of the tournament next Friday.
The Tigers fell behind early, much to the delight of the crowd of 553 mostly Alabama fans. Unfortunately, a small group of unruly fans took the opportunity to berate the LSU players. For the Tigers, it was not the first time they had faced this type of harassment on the road.
“It is unfortunate that LSU volleyball fans seem to be the ones with a sense of ethics in the league,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “You expect to play in a hostile environment on the road, but when fans make it personal, I think that it crosses the line. The SEC has a sportsmanship policy that we read before each match and it’s a shame that we seem to be the only ones who enforce it.”
With four players tied for the team lead in kills, LSU had a well-rounded offensive performance in the match. Megan Heinz, Regan Hood, Lauren Leaumont and Melody Clark each had nine kills for the Tigers.
Daniela Romero led the team with three blocks, followed by Heinz and Hood with a pair each. Leaumont led the team with six digs, followed by Romero with five. Four players also recorded service aces for LSU in the match.
“It’s been feast or famine with us lately,” said Flory. “We are either doing really well or really bad, we are either playing to our potential or we are playing like a young team. I had hoped that we would be past playing like a freshman team at this point, but over the last few weeks we have played like the young team that we are.”
Erin Heffner paced Alabama with 16 kills, followed by Jennifer Bibber with 12. Rachael Green led the Crimson Tide with five blocks, while Bibber had a match-high seven digs.
In the first game, the Tigers fell behind early, 9-4. LSU fought back to within one, 11-10, before tying the game at 17. Alabama opened up a three-point lead, 21-18 and held the three-point advantage, 29- 6. LSU fought off two game points to pull within one, 29-28, before a block by the Crimson Tide gave them the first game, 30-28.
In game two, Alabama once again took an early lead, 10-6. With the Crimson Tide leading, 15-13, Alabama scored six straight to break the game open and take the 21-13 lead. LSU got back within seven, 23-16, before the Crimson Tide went on a 5-0 run to go ahead, 28-16. Alabama went on to take the second game, 30-18.
In the third game, the Tigers came out and took the lead, 9-6. LSU expanded that lead to four points, 15-11, before Alabama cut it back to one point, 18-17. The Tigers used a 4-1 run pull ahead by four, 22-18. The Crimson Tide countered with a 6-2 run to tie the game at 24 before taking the 25-24 lead. With the score tied at 26, Alabama scored the final four points to take the game and the match, 30-26.
LSU will now head to Columbia, S.C. for the SEC Tournament. The Tigers should be the seventh seed in the tournament and take on second-seeded Arkansas. A complete bracket including tournament pairings and match times will be released following the completion of all matches on Sunday.