BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team fell in four sets Wednesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center by scores of 25-19, 26-28, 23-25, 11-25. LSU moves to 15-12 on the season and 9-8 in the SEC, while Kentucky moves to 22-6 on the season and SEC 15-2.
Taylor Bannister recorded her seventh career double-double with 20 kills and 14 digs, and Karli Rose recorded her ninth careen double-double with 33 assists and 14 digs. Along with Bannister and Rose, the Tigers had two more with double-digit digs. Raigen Cianciulli finished with a team-high 22 and Samarah Hill added 16.
UP NEXT
The LSU Tigers are on the road to finish off regular season play Saturday 6:30 p.m. CT. against Missouri. This match will stream live on SEC Network+ and will be available via live stats.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Tigers and the Wildcats battled the lead off one another early in the first set, but the Tigers pulled ahead with a kill from Allee Morris to take the lead 4-2. Kentucky then took the lead 8-4, which forced LSU to take their first time out of the set.
- Karli Rose and Whitney Foreman both recorded kills to add Tiger points to the board, LSU still trailed 9-6. Taylor Bannister added a block for the Tigers to keep Kentucky off the board and successfully take the momentum back.
- The Tigers recorded a 6-0 run to push the lead 18-13 over Kentucky and forced Kentucky to take their first time out of the set. Foreman added a huge block to increase the Tiger lead 23-18. Foreman recorded the final kill to win the set 25-19 over Kentucky.
- In the first set the Tigers hit .186 led by Bannister who recorded five kills and Forman who recorded four.
- In the second set Anita Anwusi tallied her first kill of the night to put the Tigers on top 3-2. Bannister added a big cross court kill to even the score 5-5 early in the set. LSU fell behind to the Wildcats but fought their way back within two points of the Wildcats 15-13.
- LSU took the lead 18-17 over the Wildcats and forced their first timeout of the set. Samarah Hill added a kill to the board to increase the Tiger lead 20-18. Bannister tallied a kill to add to the Tiger lead 23-22 over the Wildcats. The Tigers fought hard late in the set but fell short 28-26.
- In the third set Bannister added a kill for the Tigers to take the lead 3-1. LSU and Kentucky bounced the lead off one another in the set but a kill from Foreman helped keep the Tigers stay within one of the Wildcats 9-8.
- Bannister added a kill to try and break up the Kentucky momentum, the Tigers still trailed 14-13. Kentucky increased the lead 17-13 over LSU and forced their final time out of the set. Foreman tried to put LSU back in the set with a kill 18-17. The Wildcats took the lead but a big block from Morris and a kill from Foreman put the Tigers back in the set 24-23. The Tigers couldn’t close it out against Kentucky losing the third set 25-23.
- In the fourth set the Tigers fell behind early 6-0 forcing LSU to use their first time out of the set. LSU couldn’t get back in the set behind 10-0 and used their final timeout of the set. Morris added a block to help spark the Tiger enthusiasm, 12-5.
- Foreman added a kill to try and cut into the Kentucky lead 19-8. The Tigers couldn’t bounce back in the fourth set and fell 25-11, Kentucky took the match 3-1.
NOTABLES
- Taylor Bannister recorded her seventh career double-double with 20 kills and 14 digs.
- Karli Rose recorded her ninth careen double-double with 33 assists and 14 digs.
- Whitney Foreman recorded 11 kills on the night which tied her season high.
FLORY’S THOUGHTS
On the teams play through the first three sets and how they responded after a slow start…
“We were just trying to do too much and we just didn’t trust ourselves. We had changed the lineup a little and we weren’t really comfortable. We just talked about making it simple. The game is really simple if you let it be simple. We have a tendency to follow the rhythm and flow of other teams and we were doing that a little bit. We just decided that we were going to be us, played our rhythm, played our tempo and settle down a little bit. I’m super proud of their response and obviously they bounced back really well.
On what she hopes the team accomplishes in it final upcoming match of the year…
“We are still getting better. We are so young, I mean, we started four freshmen today and a sophomore. That’s pretty cool to stand up in that way against the team that’s going to be the co-champion or champion of the league probably. We felt like we could be the spoiler a little bit and couldn’t quite pull it off tonight. I couldn’t be prouder of them, but what I know is if we will play that hard and invest that much in to every contact and every point that this team is going to continue to grow in the next match as well and we’re really setting the table for next year.”
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