Sophomore outside hitter Journey Robinson threw the ball upwards, ready to serve.
She pulled her arms back and put all her energy into getting over the net, putting everything she had into this hit. Her hand touched the ball, and the sound it made bounced off the walls of the arena.
The ball went over the net and past players on the opposing team, avoiding all attempts by players from the opposing team to block it.
It hit the floor and the crowd cheered, but not the Tigers.
“Out of bounds. Point, Texas!”
It was one of those nights when the Tigers defeated the defending national champion Texas Longhorns.
On Sunday afternoon, LSU celebrated 50 years of LSU volleyball by taking on the Texas Longhorns in its second SEC game of the season.
It’s important for LSU to turn things around in this game after two straight losses to San Diego and Missouri, especially since they played in front of a record-breaking crowd of 3,885, which included at least 60 LSU volleyball alumni. It was.
Meanwhile, Texas entered the PMAC on a three-game winning streak, playing Baylor in Hawaii and its first SEC opponent, Texas A&M.
The Longhorns quickly took control in the first set, trailing by two points after a kill by senior outside hitter Madisen Skinner and an attack error by LSU freshman middle blocker Jessica Jones.
Errors are common in volleyball, but they are especially common in LSU volleyball, and the team has struggled the last few games.
“When you look at the box score, at the end of the day, the team that wins the game is the team that makes the fewest mistakes, and that was the case today,” head coach Tonya Johnson said.
According to the postgame box score, Texas had 10 offensive errors compared to LSU’s 20, seven of which came in the first set alone. Four of those errors were Robinson’s fault, with the rest spread out among his teammates.
However, she still led the match with 17 kills. She was followed by sophomore middle blocker Angelina Lee with seven kills and freshman outside hitter Laney Pyles with five kills.
“Journey had a really good night against their big physical blockers,” Johnson said.
Some of Robinson’s kills came in the first set of the game, but it wasn’t enough for the Tigers to get ahead of the Longhorns, losing the first set 25-20.
It had been difficult to catch up with Texas from the start, but LSU’s confidence began to waver in the second set as they found themselves trailing by nine points, 12-3.
“That’s something we have to improve on,” Johnson said. “It’s about making sure teams don’t let us score five or six points.”
Facing redshirt sophomore middle blocker Marianna Singletary, who ranks 38th in the NCAA in blocks per set, proved to be extremely difficult for LSU, ending the second set 25-20. I dropped it.
The third set could change everything for LSU, as LSU got a head start against Texas and tied it with Texas several times.
However, the team continued to struggle against the Longhorns, although freshman setter Bailey Ortega did not struggle.
“I think for us it was just playing our game and having fun,” she said.
Ortega finished the match with two kills, eight digs, 26 assists, and one block, but LSU ultimately dropped the third set to Texas 25-15.
All three of these set losses resulted in sweep wins for Texas and left LSU behind.
Texas was able to hold the advantage throughout the game considering they rank 6th in the SEC in batting average and 11th in kills, with LSU trailing in both categories. And it wasn’t all that surprising.
“I thought we did a lot of things well, but obviously not enough to win the game,” Johnson said.
After this game, LSU realized they certainly had a lot to learn going forward.
“I want to keep working on my defense and keep putting the hitters in better positions,” Ortega said.
Given that this loss added to their losing streak, what are the chances that the LSU volleyball team can turn things around?
If LSU can take anything away from this game, it’s to continue to work on their mistakes and figure out a way to maintain their confidence throughout the game. If that doesn’t work out, things won’t look good for the Tigers next Friday against Mississippi State.
