EUGENE, Ore. – With a berth in the Sweet Sixteen at stake, the LSU volleyball team fought valiantly and pushed 10th-seeded Oregon to its limit on its home court inside Matthew Knight Arena, but the Ducks proved to be too much for the Tigers in the end in a four-set, 25-22-21-25, 25-20, 25-20 loss Friday afternoon to end the team’s season in the second round.
With the loss the Tigers end the 2014 season 20-9 on the year, winning 20 matches in a year for the first time since the 2010 season, and sixth time since 2005. Oregon improves to 23-9 and will move on to face the winner of North Carolina-Hampton or Coastal Carolina-Southern California in the Minneapolis Regional next week.
LSU was unable to continue the play that had become its calling card toward the end of the season, hitting just .185 with 57 kills and 26 attacking errors, while Oregon hit .264 with 61 kills and only 18 errors.
“They played a great match. Honestly we didn’t have an answer for Bettendorf,” Head coach Fran Flory said. “We wish them the best of luck, we are sorry for our kids, but we played with great heart.”
Although not coming out with the win, the team was still very impressive individually as four players finished with double figure kills and digs on the night, led on the offensive end by Briana Holman who led all players with 19 kills, with three solo blocks and a dig. Malorie Pardo served up 47 of the team’s 52 assists, while also earning three digs and two blocks.
Leading the trio of double-double performances was Cati Leak who had 12 kills on a .231 average, with 12 digs and an assist. Katie Lindelow finished with 11 kills and 17 digs, while having two of the Tigers’ three service aces. Mimi Eugene had 10 kills off the bench and hit .296, while also corralling 21 digs with an assist.
Haley Smith earned a team-high 21 digs and in the process became just the second player since Elena Martinez to finish with back-to-back seasons of 500 or more assists with 514. The junior also had three assists against Oregon.
Martenne Bettendorf led Oregon with 18 kills and hit .311 in the match, followed by Frankie Shebby’s 11 and Liz Brenner’s 10. Maggie Scott finished with 28 assists, while Amanda Benson finished with a match-high 27 digs.
Both sides flirted with the lead throughout the early, as LSU went up 7 -6 after an Oregon service error. However, the Ducks got rolling scoring three consecutive points to go up 9-7, eventually outscoring the Tigers 8-3 to hold a 15-10 lead midway through. LSU was able to get a point out of the break on a solo block by Holman, but Oregon went on another tear scoring three more points to go up 18-11 to force LSU into a timeout.
Down six at 20-14, a Leak kill gave the team some life, as a bad set and attacking error for UO pulled LSU within three at 20-17 to force Oregon into its first timeout of the match. Out of the break, another attack error for Oregon cut the lead to two, as they continued to chip away pulling within one at 23-22 after a Lindelow service ace, but that would be the closest the team would get as the Ducks took the opener 25-22.
LSU started the second set much better, scoring four of the first five point of the frame to set the tone early. Although Oregon was able to knot the set at 8-all, but when they did the Tigers regrouped going on a 4-0 run to force a Duck timeout leading 12-8. It ended up being a five-point swing for LSU, as those points proved to be the cushion the Tigers needed to pull away, going up 20-16 on a Lindelow kill to force another Oregon timeout.
Oregon didn’t go down easily, going on a 5-3 run to pull within two at 23-21 late, but fortunately for the Tigers they got the points they needed in kills from Eugene and Emily Ehrle to seal the set win for LSU and tie the match at 1-1.
“We were at an even level. I don’t think we got too high or too low,” Pardo said. “We’ve been in positions like that before in the SEC with good teams.”
After getting to a 6-6 tie to open the third, UO got hot in a hurry, going on a 5-1 run to take an 11-7 lead and force the Tigers into a timeout. A string of points for LSU allowed the team to pull within at least three points of Oregon for much of the middle of the set, even pulling back from a five-point deficit to cut the UO lead to just two at 22-20, but the LSU offense stalled and the Ducks got the plays it needed to take the set 25-20.
Unfortunately the Tigers spotted the Ducks the first three points of the fourth to dig a deep hole early, with that hole getting bigger as the team had to call a timeout trailing 6-1. That early surge by Oregon breathed new life into the home crowd and its team, as LSU had to claw back point-by-point from that point on.
While the Tigers had their opportunities to cut into the Oregon lead, the biggest chance came when the team was down seven at 21-14. An attack error by Oregon was the first of 5-1 run for the team that featured multiple Duck errors and a kill and solo block by Holman to make it 22-19. UO would get a kill to stop the rally, with the Tigers getting one back on a kill by Lindelow, as that would be the final point for the team as Oregon closed out the set getting the final two points it needed to take the match and move on to the next round 25-20.
“Last year we were hoping to get to the second round and this year we expected it and next year we expect to go further because we have confidence and depth,” Leak said. “Our freshman got a lot of chances this year and we are going to miss all the seniors and it was an honor to play with them, but we are going to play for everyone who doesn’t get the chance to do this again.”
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @lsuvolleyball and @lsucoachfran on Twitter and @lsuvb on Instagram.