LEXINGTON, Ky. – With an 11-match and seven-match SEC winning streak on the line, the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats rolled through the first two sets of Sunday’s match, but the LSU volleyball team refused to quit, taking the final three to win 22-25, 15-25, 26-24, 25-9, 16-14 to end Kentucky’s and push LSU’s winning streak to five.
With five matches already this season against top 25 competition, LSU (10-7, 5-3 SEC) defeated its first ranked opponent in Kentucky (17-3, 7-1) since beating Michigan in the NCAA Tournament last season, while this is the first win against a ranked opponent on the road since the team defeated a then-ranked No. 22 Tennessee in Knoxville on Nov. 12, 2010. It was also the first time this season the team battled back from a two-set deficit to earn the victory.
“We really believed in ourselves, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team’s effort today,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I told the team during a timeout in the fifth set that I want to be able to say at the end of the match that we played with great confidence, composure and purpose, and I think I can stand here and say that.”
The win was also huge for Flory, who notched her 308th at the helm of the program, tying her with Scott Luster for the most all time, and one away from owning the record.
The Tigers got a season-best performance from Katie Lindelow, who led the match with a career-high tying 18 kills, while also earning 12 digs for the double-double. The Mandeville native was one of four players to finish with double-digit kills for LSU, as Cati Leak and Gina Tillis finished with 17, as Leak also had a season-high 19 digs.
Briana Holman came on strong with 12 kills and eight blocks, three solo. Malorie Pardo served up a season-best 58 assists and corralled 11 digs for the Tigers, earning three blocks as well on the night.
Leading the charge defensively for LSU in the back row was Haley Smith who led all players with 22 digs for the Tigers, while adding two assists and a service ace.
“Everybody came through when they needed to come through,” Flory said. “We found a matchup that was difficult and Kentucky had a tough time with our left side. Super proud of the effort by the entire group today.”
Kentucky’s Lauren O’Conner led Kentucky with 15 kills, while Morgan Bergren had 50 assists and Anni Thomasson adding 21 digs for the Wildcats on the afternoon.
LSU on its winning streak came out playing like it early in the first, as the two sides finished with 17 kills each in the set, with the Tigers having just two more errors than the Wildcats to finish with a .268 average to UK’s .333. Leak tied for the set-high with six kills and hit .667 in the first, while Lindelow and Holman had four each, as Pardo had an assist on every LSU kill during the frame.
The Tigers came and seized the momentum early from the home crowd and the Wildcats, getting the first three points of the set with kills from Eugene and Leak, with a block from Eugene and Holman to stun the opposition from the opening serve. A block by Lindelow and Eugene made it an 8-5 score for LSU, but things began to change for the Tigers as the Wildcats began to go on the offensive and earned the next four points in a row to go up 9-8, with LSU being the one having to play catch-up.
Kentucky’s largest lead in the first was four points, and with a 23-19 lead, the Wildcats started to coast and it allowed LSU to make a short comeback as Lindelow powered home a kill to make it 23-20, as after a service error for the Tigers, came back with two more kills from Lindelow to make it 24-22, but that would be it as Kentucky got the final point it needed to take the set 25-22.
LSU struggled in the second, getting just nine kills and hitting below .100 as a team, while continued to string together kills with 16 on just four errors for a .364 average. Lindelow was the offense getting four kills, while Tillis was the only other player with more than one with two.
After starting so well in the opening frame, the Tigers were unable to get that same momentum early in the second as Kentucky raced out to take the first four points to put LSU in a deep hole early. Eventually it became an 8-3 deficit for the Tigers, but the team found some life offensively, getting a kill from Holman and a UK attack error to make it 8-5, with back-to-back service errors making it 9-7.
Unfortunately, it would be closest LSU would get to Kentucky for the rest of the set as the Wildcats would lead by as many as nine points, methodically pulling away from LSU as the Tigers would be unable to string together enough points late to make it close in dropping the second set 25-15.
Finally, LSU was able to outhit the Wildcats, powered by Tillis’ eight kills and Lindelow’s seven, as the Tigers hit .292 to UK’s .237. The Tigers finished with 21 kills in the set alone, while scooping up 21 digs to help the LSU cause.
LSU came out scoring four of the first five points in the third set, getting three kills from Tillis in a row to take a 4-1 lead. Kentucky came back to get the next two to make it a one-score affair, but shots from Leak and Lindelow pushed it back to a three-point lead for the Tigers. However, the barrage stopped there for LSU and began for Kentucky, as they scored seven of the next eight to go up 10-7 and force LSU into its first timeout of the set.
Although the Tigers were down they refused to quit, keeping within one of the Wildcats for much of the next dozen points. Down 16-13, LSU went on the comeback getting back-to-back kills from Lindelow and a Leak kill to tie the set at 16-16 and force a Kentucky timeout. LSU would battle back to force three more ties, eventually taking the lead with a Leak kill and combo Holman-Tillis block to go up two and force a UK timeout.
The lead proved to be short lived as the match heated up from there, leading to extra points after three more ties put the match at 24-24, but fortunately for LSU another Lindelow kill and an unassisted Mahaffey kill gave the Tigers their first set of the match to send it to a fourth.
That momentum from the third set proved to be the thing the Tigers needed to get into a rhythm as the squad began to pounce on Kentucky from the first serve, getting an ace from Smith to set the tone. Two points was the closest Kentucky would get to the Tigers as LSU earned a 9-4 lead off of a Pardo ace and forced UK into a timeout. That lead eventually grew to 13-5, completely stifling the Wildcat defense and frustrating their offense.
Kentucky was no match in every sense, as a 7-0 run by the team late in the set put the Tigers up 23-8 and cruised to the 25-9 win to push it to a fifth set.
With everything on the line, LSU grabbed the first four points to open the fifth take an early lead in the race to 15. With no answer still for the Tiger onslaught, LSU got to the eight-point mark first thanks to a UK attack error as the two teams switched sides. The Tigers would also be the first to get to 10 points, going up 10-8 with five points standing between the team and the upset.
However, the homestanding Wildcats refused to go quietly, rallying back to tie the set and push the match to extra points after LSU had two opportunities at match point, but the gas ran out for Kentucky as a big Holman kill put LSU on the brink, with Lindelow sealing it with a shot down the line to give the Tigers the win.
LSU will be back in action on Wednesday night, taking on the Ole Miss Rebels at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
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