OXFORD, Miss. – The LSU volleyball team fought valiantly, nearly staging a comeback on the road, but in the end the Tigers would not have enough to overtake the Ole Miss Rebels, falling 25-11, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 Sunday afternoon in the Gillom Sports Center in Oxford.
After looking disoriented in the first set, LSU (9-16, 5-9 Southeastern) battled back to push the Rebels (21-8, 7-7) late, having double-digit kills in each of the final three sets, hitting better as the match wore on finishing with 48 kills and a .172 hitting percentage while Ole Miss hit .175, but only with 44 kills.
Leading the match in kills was sophomore Gina Tillis who finished with 19 on a .227 hitting clip with seven digs and a solo block. Mimi Eugene was only other LSU player with double figure kills, earning her third double-double of the season with 11 kills and match-leading 14 digs.
Cheyenne Wood finished the day with 22 assists, adding seven digs and three kills, while Lindsay Flory had 16 assists, two blocks, two kills and a dig.
The Tigers out-blocked the Rebels as a team 10-8, as leading that charge was freshman Olivia Beyer who tied her own season high with eight to lead the match, getting three on the solo end.
Kate Gibson led Ole Miss with 13 kills, adding 12 digs for the double-double which was also a team high. Aubrey Edie had 32 assists to lead all players, while Nakeyta Clair had five blocks for Ole Miss.
LSU had a tough go early in the first set, falling behind by as many as five down 7-2 after the first nine points of the match. The Rebels’ lead would grow to as many as eight, and then nine, before the Tigers called its first timeout down 18-9. By the end of the opener, Ole Miss hit .524 with 12 kills, while LSU hit .000 with nine kills and hitting into six Rebel blocks in dropping the first 25-11.
The Tigers were able to play the Rebels a little bit closer to start the second set, as a block from Beyer and Emily Ehrle cut a 4-1 Ole Miss lead to 4-2. LSU would be able to keep it within a couple of points for a short period, but after pulling within two points again a 6-4 after a Rebel service error, Ole Miss went on a tear scoring five-straight to take an 11-4 lead and force LSU into using its second timeout of the set.
Ole Miss’ run would end at 7-0 after a Tillis kill halted the run with the score now 13-5, as the Tigers were able to go on a small run of its own, scoring six of the next seven to pull within four at 14-10 to force Ole Miss into using its first timeout of the match.
LSU was able to turn the set on its ear and really began to put pressure on the home side, staying within a handful of points, before pulling within one after a block from Beyer and Flory to make it 19-18. From there, LSU kept it within one twice more at 21-20 and 23-22, but the Rebels would have just enough to pull away from the Tigers in the end, going up 2-0 by getting the final two points it needed to win 25-22.
LSU finally started a set on the right foot, capturing three of the first four points of the third out of the intermission break. Although Ole Miss found a way to regroup and take the lead back up 5-4, LSU came back to tie it right back up at 5-5.
Neither side would be able to gain a large advantage over the other from that point on, leading to 12 ties and four lead changes in the third alone. With the set tied at 13, The Rebels rattled off three consecutive points to take a 16-13 lead, but it would be the last for the opposition as the Tigers went on a roll, outscoring the Rebels 6-1 to go up 19-17 forcing Ole Miss into a timeout.
Ole Miss would score just one more point for the duration of the third as LSU would pull within a set after winning 25-18.
After five ties in the first 10 points of the fourth, LSU would take the next two points to break the draw with an unforced Ole Miss error and Eugene kill to take a 7-5 lead. The Tigers would force Ole Miss into burning a timeout, going up 10-6, but doing little to to stop the LSU run as the team would lead by as many as six up 12-6.
However, Ole Miss began to fight back and started to chip away at the LSU lead, pulling within two at 12-10 to force LSU into a timeout, calling their final one after the Rebels took the lead back up 15-14. LSU would get the point out of the break to tie it up again, setting up a furious race to the finish by trading points from then on.
After a kill from Tillis to knot the fourth at 18-18, Ole Miss would get the next two points consecutively to go up 20-18, seeming to be enough of a burst and lead to hold off LSU in the end, but not expecting the comeback, the Tigers battled from four points down to tie the set again, this time at 22-22 forcing the Rebels into their final timeout of the frame.
Three points away from the set or the match, a kill from Ole Miss made it 23-22 for the home side, with a kill from Tillis finding the floor to tie it for the 12th and final time, as the Rebels got another kill and an unforced LSU error to take the set 25-23 and win the match 3-1.
LSU will be back in action next weekend, closing out the home schedule, first with the Florida Gators at 5 p.m. inside the Maravich Center. The match will be televised live on the SEC Network.
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