BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team honored its four-member senior class of Emily Ehrle, Cati Leak, Katie Lindelow and Haley Smith on Sunday afternoon in the team’s final home match of the year, as the squad hosted the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats and produced a mighty comeback effort late but eventually fell in three sets (25-21, 25-9, 27-25).
Staring down match point in the third, LSU (9-18, 5-11 Southeastern) rallied in a big way to force extra points against the Wildcats (19-9, 12-4), scoring three-straight to force a tie at 24-24 in its best attacking set of the day, as the squad finished the match hitting .093 with 34 kills, but in the third alone hit .179 with 13 kills to keep the match alive late.
“Quite honestly, we didn’t start well. We got so far down and made a huge comeback. So I can’t say what I said at halftime was worthy of anything. I think that what I said at halftime was that Gina (Tillis) and Mimi (Eugene) would have to carry the load, and that we all believed in them,” head coach Fran Flory said. “It has to be an honor to carry the load – it can’t a burden—and if it’s a burden, then you usually don’t come through. I don’t think we balanced that very well. I thought they came back and did a great job in the last set. It’s a grow-up moment.”
Gina Tillis produced a match-high 17 kills against Kentucky, adding six digs, with a block and an assist. Mimi Eugene was the only other Tiger with double figure kills with 10, adding four digs and an assist.
Lindsay Flory and Cheyenne Wood each finished with 14 assists for LSU, as Wood tallied eight digs and a kill, while Flory led the team with two blocks and a dig.
The two seniors in Lindelow and Smith tied for the team lead in digs with 10 each, as Smith had three assists, while Lindelow had an assist and a kill.
“We really tried to make this team a family, and I think we’ve done that,” Lindelow said. “This year was not the year we wanted, but we’re hoping to leave a certain culture and work ethic in the gym for them in the next few years.”
Kaz Brown had 12 kills and five blocks for Kentucky, while Morgan Bergren had 35 assists, six digs and four blocks. Anni Thomasson had 13 digs to lead the match and earned a double-double with 10 kills.
The matched opened as Cati Leak, who was injured in the match at Kentucky earlier this month, dressed out and was placed in the starting lineup so that she could have the opening serve of the game on Senior Day.
“We practiced it—luckily—before, so we kind of knew how we were going to play,” Lindelow said. “Unfortunately we didn’t win the point, but she got her serve over, and that was goal. It was important for her to put the jersey on one last time.”
Kentucky opened by taking four of the first five points of the match to give the visitors an early lead. It took some work for the Tigers to get back into the set, as down 8-4, LSU got a UK service error and a kill from Eugene to pull within two points.
Although the Wildcats would go into the media break leading LSU 15-12, the Tigers rallied, getting a kill from Tillis and a Kentucky attack error was within one point at 15-14. From there, LSU kept the pressure on, staying within one at 17-16 and 18-17, but UK wound up going on a two-point swing to take a 20-17 lead to force an LSU timeout.
Although the short break didn’t work initially as UK got the first three points out of it to make it a 23-18 game, LSU fought back getting a kill from Eugene, and a pair of kills from Tillis to pull within two at 23-21 to force a Kentucky timeout.
However, Kentucky took the first set, getting the final two points it needed to go up 1-0, winning 25-21
LSU found itself in another hole to open the second, with Kentucky going up 5-1 and eventually going on to lead 7-2. The Tigers struggled to get anything going offensively hitting under .100 at this point, while Kentucky was hitting at a .538 clip and forced LSU into using one of its timeouts down 12-6.
It seemed like everything was starting to go right for the visitors as LSU would call its second timeout down 17-6. The Tigers would finish with only seven kills in the frame, while Kentucky earned the 2-0 match lead by hitting .524 with 11 kills and no errors in winning 25-9.
The third was a rollercoaster, with LSU opening the set by keeping it close, trailing by just one at 5-4. But LSU would use its only timeout to try and stop Kentucky down by six at 12-6 in the middle of the frame, with that lead growing to seven with the Tigers behind 20-13 and five points away from Kentucky sealing the win.
Pushed to the brink the Tigers slowly began to make their way back into the game, scoring six of the next nine to pull within three at 21-19. Kentucky would get the next point to get to 22, but a block by Tiara Gibson and Lindsay brought it back to two. After a Kentucky point, Tillis brought it back to a pair on a kill before Kentucky went to match point right after.
The match turned into LSU’s favor as kills from Tillis and Eugene and a UK service error tied the match at 24, forcing the Wildcats into using its final timeout of the frame. A kill for the Wildcats was given right back on a service error to make it 25-25. Hoping to capitalize, Kentucky would earn a kill on the next play to go up 26-25, as an attack error for LSU ended the match as UK took the third 27-25.
After the match, LSU honored its seniors with a presentation on the court and video messages from the senior class, as well as their teammates.
“They busted it for this program for four years. We built it around them, not so much Emily although she joined us after, but Lindelow and Leak for sure,” Fran said. “Haley earned her way, she’s our Rudy and she’s found her way through. She’s pretty special in a lot of ways beyond just what she’s done on the court. I think this freshmen group will be very similar to that group. I think they’ll have that same impact.”
LSU closes the 2015 season on the road, beginning with a match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs Wednesday in Starkville.
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