BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team dropped to 2-3 on the season after losses to Connecticut and Virginia in a doubleheader at the Tiger Classic Friday at the Maravich Center.
The Huskies took down the Tigers on their home court 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 in the morning session. LSU returned in the evening and fell in a close match to the Hoos that featured fifteen lead changes and 15 tied scores over five sets with Virginia ultimately taking the match 25-18, 27-29, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13.
Flory’s Thoughts
“We made some changes after having a lot of young kids in there. I was pretty animated and intense tonight trying to mimic what we needed to do.
“Unfortunately we gave this match away tonight. We made some great plays tonight but two players beat us. It is important for us to refocus tonight and get back out with that same intensity against a good Southern Miss team tomorrow.”
Who’s Next
The Tigers wrap up their home tournament at 1 p.m. CT Saturday against Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles completed the opening day of the tournament undefeated. Fans are reminded to Geaux Clear and that admission to both matches tomorrow is free.
Morning Match
After taking the opening point off of a kill, LSU never could gain momentum allowing Connecticut to take hold of the match. The Huskies never relinquished the lead after the opening point and combined to start the three sets on a total run of 16-2.
The Tigers hit .152 for the match, while UCONN hit .224. After opening with a hitting percentage of .108, LSU bounced back to hit. 292 but ultimately hit .097 in the final frame. While UCONN had as many errors as the Tigers, the Huskies finished with 43 kills to LSU’s 27.
Evening Match
Despite dropping the opening set 25-18, LSU rebounded to win two in a row at 29-27 and 25-18. The fourth set featured six tie scores and five lead changes to allow Virginia to push it to a deciding set. Down 22-23 in the fourth, UVA took advantage of four straight errors by LSU to win the set.
LSU closed out the match hitting .000 in the final set while Virginia hit .043. In the fifth set with the tie scored at seven, Connecticut rattled off a 7-3 run to take control of the set. LSU closed in on the match at 14-13 but an attacking error ended the contest.
Team Notes
>> Junior Kelly Quinn made her debut at libero for the Tigers against Virginia. Quinn had a career-best 26 digs on the night.
>> Senior Tiara Gibson hit .562 against Connecticut with 10 kills on 16 attempts. The Tiger added another double-digit kill performance in the night match with 10.
>> Freshman Jacqui Armer played in her third match for the Tigers and hit .455 with 12 kills and just two errors.
>> Junior Gina Tillis finished against Virginia with yet another double-double, her third of the season after finishing with 16 kills and 18 digs.
>> Sophomore Lindsay Flory entered the match against Virginia and played three sets with a combined 34 assists.
>> Freshman Anna Zwiebel finished the day with 32 assists after totaling 16 in each match. The Kentucky native had two aces against Connecticut along with seven digs.
>>In the match against Virginia, LSU’s Gibson, Tillis, Armer and Jariel Tureaud all had 10 or more kills. It was the first time since 2014 that LSU has had four players with 10 or more kills in a match.
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