BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 5 Florida, falling 30-20, 30-22, 30-25, in Southeastern Conference action on Sunday afternoon in the Maravich Center.
With the loss, the Tigers ended a six match winning streak, their longest since 2001, and fell to 9-2 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play. The win extended the Gators’ NCAA record consecutive regular season conference match winning streak to 132 and moved Florida to 10-1 on the year and 2-0 in league play.
“We have to learn how to step into the bigger arena,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Friday night we did a fairly good job of controlling things on our side, but given the opportunity we had today, which we felt was a great opportunity, we did not take advantage of opportunities that we had. They gave us a lot of chances, they really did. I wouldn’t say this was one of their better performances. I think we made them look pretty good. On the other hand, I think they made us look pretty bad, too.
LSU struggled to find its rhythm offensively, committing 34 hitting errors, while swinging at a .098 clip, the lowest of the season. Florida, however, hit .312 and committed only 11 errors on the match. While the Tigers did out dig the Gators, 45-42, Florida won at the net, out blocking LSU, 13-5.
“They had our number in certain rotations and we were not able to adjust, where as on Friday night, we did a great job adjusting. Part of the problem was that our first ball, ball control was horrible. We cannot be successful against better teams if we can’t control the first ball. If we can’t get into our system, we are not going to be successful. This is a great learning experience.”
Sophomore Kassi Mikulik led the Tigers with 12 kills, while posting 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Junior Jelena Mijatovic led the team with 12 digs, while junior Ivana Kuzmic recorded a team-best four blocks.
Marcie Hampton led Florida with 11 kills, while Michelle Chatman posted 10. Jane Collymore led the Gators with 12 digs and Sherri Williams posted 10 blocks in the match.
In the first game, LSU took the 7-5 lead before Florida rallied off five straight points to take the 10-7 advantage and hold on to it for good. The Gators went on to take game one, 30-20.
The Tigers led 10-6 early in the second game, but again, a rally by Florida tied the game at 14 all. The Gators then took the lead at 15-14, and never relinquished it, taking the 2-0 advantage, 30-22.
LSU fell behind, 10-7 in the third game. Florida extended its lead to seven points, 19-12, but the Tigers would not go away. LSU went on an 8-2 run to cut the Gator lead to within one point, 21-20, but could get no closer. Florida took the game and the match, 30-25.
“We’ll use this loss as a rally point,” said Flory. “We did that against Texas. This match was similar to the Texas match that we lost at UT. We passed very poorly but we answered the call in game three a little better this time and stepped up a little bit better. If we can get better, given those circumstances, by the end of the year we’ll be okay.”
The Tigers return to action this week with a road trip to Rice on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The match was an addition to the schedule after LSU defeated the Owls in the Hurricane Frances Invitational in Baton Rouge in the first weekend of the season.
LSU then returns home and to SEC play for the weekend against Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The Tigers will take on the Bulldogs on Friday at 7 p.m. before hosting the Rebels on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Florida def. LSU 30-20,30-22,30-25
Florida (10-1, 2-0 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Marcie Hampton 11-0-1; Michelle Chatman 10-1-3; Sherri Williams 9-0-10; Jane Collymore 8-0-3; Kisya Killingsworth 4-0-3; Lauren Moscovic 1-1-0; Kari Klinkenberg 1-0-0; Stefanie Douglas 1-0-0; Angie McGinnis 0-1-5; Rachel Engel 0-1-0; Totals 45-4-13.0. (Assists) – Angie McGinnis 37. (Dig leaders) – Jane Collymore 12; Marcie Hampton 6
LSU (9-2, 1-1 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kassi Mikulik 12-1-0; Regan Hood 9-1-1; Melody Clark 9-0-2; Ivana Kuzmic 9-0-4; Daniela Romero 4-0-3; Jelena Mijatovic 4-1-0; Totals 47-3-5.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 41. (Dig leaders) – Jelena Mijatovic 12; Kassi Mikulik 10