GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU volleyball team could not overcome their own mistakes as the Tigers fell to No. 4 Florida, 30-20, 30-21, 30-20, in Southeastern Conference play on Sunday afternoon at the O’Connell Center.
The loss dropped LSU to 16-5 on the season and 6-4 in SEC play, while the Gators improved to 20-1 overall and 10-0 in league play. After spending eight of the past nine weeks on the road, the Tigers return home to face Auburn and Alabama next weekend.
LSU struggled to execute on offense as the Tigers hit at a .021 clip for the match and did not have a player record double-figures in kills. Florida, conversely, hit .206 for the match, which is still well below its average for the season, and had one player with 17 kills. The Gators also out dug LSU, 72-59, and out blocked the Tigers 7-4.
“I thought we played very tentatively,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We didn’t execute well and when you can’t connect on free -ball opportunities it is a struggle in the match. Florida is very efficient and they made some great defensive plays.”
Melody Clark led LSU with eight kills, followed by Kyna Washington and Marina Skender with seven each. Kassi Mikulik led the Tigers with 15 digs, followed by Daniela Romero, who posted a double-double with 14 digs and 20 assists. A trio of Tigers each recorded two blocks, including Ivana Kuzmic, Skender and Clark.
Jane Collymore led the match with 17 kills for Florida, while Kari Klinkenborg and Kisya Killingworth each posted three blocks. Rachel Engel led the match with 18 digs, followed by Angie McGinnis with 15 and Rhian Davis and Collymore with 12 each.
“I thought we played with too much emotion early,” said Flory. “Then I think we bottomed out later. When you go for broke emotionally, it is tough to recover.”
In the first game, the Tigers matched Florida early in the game until the Gators took a five-point lead, 15-10. LSU came back to cut the Florida lead to one, 15-14, after a pair of service aces by Mijatovic and a pair of kills. The Gators came back with and ace and a kill and took advantage of a pair of errors by the Tigers to extend their lead back to five as Florida went on to take game one, 30-20.
LSU struggled offensively in the second game, failing to hit in positive numbers. The Gators opened up an eight-point lead early, 11-3, but the Tigers fought to cut it back to five, 12-7. Florida came back and extended the margin to as many as 12, 29-17. With the Gators holding game point, LSU scored four consecutive points to cut it to eight, but a service error by Mikulik gave Florida the game, 30-21.
In the third game, the Tigers took the 3-1 lead before Florida tied it up at four all. With the score tied at 12, the Gators went on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good. LSU got back to within four, but could get no closer as Florida took the game and the match, 30-20.
Next weekend, the Tigers will face Auburn on Friday at 7 p.m. before closing out the weekend against Alabama on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. LSU is currently one and a half games behind the Crimson Tide in the league standings.
No. 4 Florida def. LSU, 30-20, 30-21, 30-20
LSU (16-5, 6-4 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Melody Clark 8-0-2; Kyna Washington 7-0-0; Marina Skender 7-0-2; Jelena Mijatovic 5-2-1; Ivana Kuzmic 5-0-2; Daniela Romero 0-0-0; Lauren Leaumont 0-0-0; Vanessa Freeman 1-0-1;Heather Fierce 0-0-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-1-0; Totals 33-3-4.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 20. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 15, Daniela Romero 14..
Florida (20-1, 10-0 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jane Collymore 17-2-3; Kisya Killingsworth 9-0-3; Marcia Hampton 6-1-0; Angie McGinnis 4-0-0; Kari Klinkenborg 4-0-3; Amber McCray 3-0-1; Rhian Davis 0-3-0; Christina Diaz 0-0-0; Rachel Engel 0-1-0; Totals 43-7-7.0. (Assists) – Angie McGinnis 34. (Dig leaders) – Rachel Engel 18, Angie McGinnis 15, Jane Collymore 12, Rhian Davis 12.