LEXINGTON, Ky. – The LSU volleyball team put the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats through its paces on its home floor Sunday afternoon, but wouldn’t be able to overcome the hot-hitting effort by the opposition falling in four (25-18, 22-25, 25-12, 25-12) inside Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
LSU (9-13, 5-6 Southeastern) had arguably its best set of the season in the second to even the sets and one a piece, but the league-leading Wildcats (16-7, 9-2) hit .312 as a group with 54 kills on the afternoon, earning 10 blocks as a team to hold the Tigers to a .120 hitting clip with 41 kills and 25 errors.
The Tigers were able to get double-digit performances from sophomores Mimi Eugene and Gina Tillis, as each finished with 11 kills for LSU. Tiara Gibson finished with eight kills and hit .438 for the Tigers against Kentucky.
Cheyenne Wood earned her second-straight double-double, leading the team with 17 assists, while earning 10 digs and a kill. Lindsay Flory finished with 16 assists.
Haley Smith earned 16 digs to lead the Tigers, adding on two assists. Eugene and Katie Lindelow had head of LSU’s two service aces, with Olivia Beyer and Tillis registering the only two blocks for the team in the contest.
Kentucky’s Kaz Brown led all players with 16 kills, hitting .682 for the Wildcats while also adding nine blocks. Darian Mack had 12 kills and had nine digs and two assists.
Morgan Bergren led the match with her 37 assists, adding eight kills and seven digs, while Ashley Dusek had 21 digs for Kentucky.
The Tigers opened the match getting the first two points after a UK service error and an ace from Eugene. After Kentucky got the next three, a kill from Ehrle helped level the set at 3-3. However, a 4-0 run by Kentucky gave the Wildcats a 7-3 lead over the Tigers at that point.
Although LSU would find themselves down, they showed their true resolve as down by four at 16-12 after the media timeout, a UK service error, followed by a Tillis kill and another Wildcat unforced error, the Tigers were able to pull within one at 16-15 forcing a Kentucky timeout.
After a Kentucky kill, a blocking error on a Gibson kill pulled LSU within one again at 17-16. However, two straight points by Kentucky extended the lead back to three points forcing an LSU timeout, calling its second soon after down 21-17. Kentucky would hold on, taking the opening set over LSU 25-18.
LSU held the lead for much longer by the time the second set rolled around, and that was due in part to a flawless start to the frame that at one point had the Tigers hitting .615 with eight kills and no errors on 13 swings. Kentucky was right there as well at a point, hitting .429 with only two errors with eight kills on 14 swings.
After giving up the first point, LSU came back with an Ehrle kill and UK attack error to go up 2-1. After trading the next three points to knot the set at 3-3, LSU got an attack error and a service ace from Katie Lindelow to go up 5-3. LSU would not relinquish the lead, going up by as many as four points, eventually forcing Kentucky into a timeout as LSU broke a 10-all tie by going on a 5-1 run to lead 15-11.
Even with the lead and the momentum, the Wildcats found ways to make things interesting, going on a four-point swing to knot the set at 15-15, setting off a string of four ties leading to an 18-18 stalemate. LSU got some assistance by a Kentucky attacking error and a block from Tillis and Beyer to go up 20-18 and force Kentucky into its final timeout.
That scoring burst proved to be enough for LSU, as the Tigers held on to take the second set and knot the match at one each by winning 25-22.
A different Kentucky team emerged from the locker room after dropping the second, proving troublesome for LSU from the beginning of the third as the Wildcats raced out to a 6-0 lead forcing the Tigers to call an early timeout to attempt to stop the onslaught, but by the time LSU called its second the home side was up 12-1 and rolling.
Even staring down a double-digit deficit, the Tigers continued to push and were able to string together some points, but Kentucky’s lead would prove to be too great to overcome in the end, dropping the third 25-12.
The Wildcats were able to race out to a 5-2 lead over LSU to open the crucial fourth set. A kill from Gibson made it 5-3, with an attack error by Kentucky pulling the Tigers within a point early. The team was able to keep within a point of Kentucky for much of the next few points, eventually turning an 8-6 deficit into a 9-8 lead after kills from Eugene and Wood and a UK attacking error.
Unfortunately for the group, the lead wouldn’t last long as Kentucky scored the next three to go up 11-9, going on a 7-1 run to go up 15-10 to jump ahead, eventually forcing LSU into using both of its timeouts trailing the Wildcats 17-11.
Kentucky extended its lead to double-digits after that, as LSU would not be able to match the above-.300 hitting clip of the Wildcats in the set, dropping the fourth 25-12 as the Wildcats claimed the match 3-1.
Prior to the start of the match, LSU senior outside hitter Cati Leak sustained a lower-leg injury and did not play in Sunday’s contest.
LSU will be back in action next Sunday, hosting the Missouri Tigers at 4 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The match will be televised live on the SEC Network.
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