GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Senior Regan Hood recorded her 1,000th career kills as the LSU Tiger volleyball team showed its fight in a hard fought loss to No. 10 Florida, 30-17, 30-23, 30-27, on the road in the O’Connell Center on Friday night.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 10-7 on the season and 2-5 in Southeastern Conference play. The Gators extended their NCAA record conference winning streak and improved to 15-2 overall and 7-0 in league play.
“I was proud of our effort today against a very good Florida team,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We were able to do some good things on our side. We never gave up and we really challenged them in the third game. Hopefully we can take our performance tonight and build on it at Georgia.”
With six kills for the match, Hood, a middle blocker from Carrollton, Texas, surpassed 1,000 kills for her career. The senior now has 1,005 career kills, making her the 13th player in LSU history with 1,000 career kills. In addition, Hood led the Tigers with a pair of blocks.
After dropping the first game, 30-17, the Tigers fought back and really challenged the Gators in the final two games. In the second game, LSU was within two points late in the game, 21-19, but could not capitalize. The pair were tied at 23 in the third game before Florida pulled ahead by four. LSU fought back to within two, but could not close it out.
For the match, Kassi Mikulik led LSU with 11 kills. The sophomore from Flatonia, Texas, also added eight digs, tying the team best. Freshman Vanessa Freeman recorded seven kills for the Tigers, while junior Jelena Mijatovic added eight digs and three service aces.
Florida was led by Jane Collymore with 19 kills and Marcie Hampton with 14. Rachel Engel led the match with 11 digs for the Gators, while Sherri Williams led the match with six blocks.
With the first game tied at five, Florida went on a 6-0 run to break out to an 11-5 lead. The Tigers got back to within three, 16-13, but could get no closer as the Gators used a 5-0 run to close out game one, 30-17.
In the second game, LSU kept it close, trailing by two, 12-10, midway through the game. Florida, however, pulled out to a six-point lead, 20-14, but the Tigers would not go away. LSU got back to within three, 21-19, on back-to-back service aces by Mijatovic. The Gators, however, countered with a 4-0 run on their way to taking game two, 30-23.
The Tigers’ fighting spirit was evident in the third game as Florida pulled ahead on several occasions, but LSU kept fighting back. Trailing 19-14, the Tigers came back to tie the game at 22 all. Using three blocks, the Gators sent it to match point, 29-25, but LSU fought back to within two, 27-29, before an error by the Tigers ended the match, 30-27.
LSU will now travel for a rematch with Georgia on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) in the Ramsey Center. The Tigers swept the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge earlier this season.
Florida def. LSU 30-17,30-23,30-27
LSU (10-7, 2-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kassi Mikulik 11-1-1; Vanessa Freeman 7-0-0; Regan Hood 6-0-2; Jelena Mijatovic 5-3-0; Daniela Romero 3-1-0; Melody Clark 3-0-1; Rachel Pittman 0-1-0; Totals 35-6-3.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 28. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 8; Jelena Mijatovic 8
Florida (15-2, 7-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jane Collymore 19-3-0; Marcie Hampton 14-0-3; Sherri Williams 5-0-6; Michelle Chatman 4-2-2; Kisya Killingsworth 3-0-3; Angie McGinnis 3-0-2; Kari Klinkenberg 1-0-0; Stefanie Douglas 1-0-0; Taylor Williams 0-1-0; Lauren Moscovic 0-2-0; Totals 50-8-9.0. (Assists) – Angie McGinnis 41. (Dig leaders) – Rachel Engel 11; Jane Collymore 9