FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In the first of two road matches this week, the LSU volleyball team took on the high-powered offense of the Arkansas Razorbacks Wednesday, falling in three sets (25-18, 25-10, 25-19) inside Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.
LSU (9-15, 5-8 Southeastern) would be unable to match the attack of the Razorbacks (16-9, 6-7) as the home side finished the match hitting .376 with 40 kills as LSU would have 30 kills, hitting .101. The Tigers finished with one more kill than error Wednesday night, as Arkansas also proved stout at the net with 12.5 blocks to LSU’s three.
Sophomore Gina Tillis led LSU with 12 kills, adding six digs and a block. Emily Ehrle and Mimi Eugene each finished with four for the Tigers, as Eugene added five digs.
Cheyenne Wood had 16 assists to lead the setters, tacking on three digs, two kills and a service ace. Lindsay Flory finished with nine assists, adding a kill and two digs.
Needing just eight digs to capture the record, LSU senior libero Haley Smith earned 11 against Arkansas, sending her past Daniela Reis to own the program all-time digs record all alone as she now has 1,531 for her career. The dig came in the third set, capturing the mark and getting three more later on in the frame.
With her eighth dig in the third, senior libero @hale15smith is the new all-time digs leader at LSU! Congrats Haley pic.twitter.com/A79rPg90yg
— LSU Volleyball (@lsuvolleyball) November 12, 2015
Olivia Beyer led the team in blocks with two, as Tillis, Ehrle and Tiara Gibson each had one.
Pilar Victoria led the match with 13 kills for the Razorbacks, adding eight digs. Adrien Wohlschlaeger had 33 assists, while Breana Jones had eight blocks to lead all players.
LSU would have to battle back from a 5-1 deficit early in the first set, using a 4-1 run to pull within one at 6-5, with an unforced Arkansas error leveling the set at 6-6. After a Razorback kill, LSU earned the next three thanks to two more Arkansas errors, with an Ehrle-Tillis combo block making it 9-7 Tigers.
However, that lead would be short as Arkansas was able to pull even again, setting off a short string of ties, as down 11-10 Arkansas scored five of the next six to take a 15-12 lead over LSU at the media break. Arkansas was able to extend that lead by taking four of the next seven to go up 19-15 to force LSU into a timeout. Arkansas was in the midst of a 4-0 run when the Tigers called their second, leading 21-15 at that point, going on to take the first set 25-18.
The second set proved to be just as competitive as the first, featuring five ties and three lead changes within the first 13 points of the frame. After a Tillis kill to knot the set at 5-5 and one from Katie Kampen to make it 6-5, Arkansas got hot offensively and rattled off the next eight and 10 of the next 11 to force LSU into using both of its timeouts, falling behind 15-7 at that point.
By the time the set ended, the Razorbacks hit .500 with 14 kills and one error while LSU had seven kills and 10 errors, with Arkansas outscoring LSU 20-4 from that 6-5 deficit to take the second set 25-10 and go up 2-0.
Again, LSU was able to hold its own with Arkansas early in the third, with four ties within the first 10 points of the set, with the stanza tied at 5-5 after a Razorback service error. But from there, Arkansas would gain a bit of distance scoring four of the next five to go up 9-6 over the Tigers. Still, LSU clawed back, getting a kill from Tillis and Arkansas error to pull within one at 9-8.
LSU would be able to keep it within a point of Arkansas again at 10-9, but from there the Razorbacks would go on another key run, outscoring LSU 6-1 to go up 16-10 and continue to push, leading by as many as seven points at different points late in the set. The Tigers continued to show its fight, fending off match point twice, but succumbing in the end 25-19 for the Arkansas sweep.
LSU will be back in action on Sunday, traveling to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at 1 p.m. in Oxford. The match will be televised live on the SEC Network.
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