No matter how talented a team of players are, there might always be another team that matches it perfectly.
Mary Wise’s 10th-ranked Florida Gators found that out the hard way Friday night as they fell to the 19th-ranked LSU Tigers for the second time this season, 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 17-25), in college volleyball action.
“I thought our team played hard and really competed,” Wise said. “But LSU is a really tough matchup for us. What they do well, we have trouble stopping and I’m glad we’re done playing them.”
The Gators started slow to open the match, but ended up fighting back from a 23-19 deficit, scoring seven of the last eight points to steal the opening set from the Tigers.
Florida looked as if it were poised to ride the momentum to a commanding lead after going on a 10-3 run to seize control of the second set.
But ultimately, youth proved to be the Gators’ downfall as their mistakes allowed the Tigers to claw back and steal the set to even the match.
“After going into the locker room, we kind of joked that we stole game one and they stole game two,” said senior Elyse Cusack. “We should have lost game one and should have won game two. But we went in the locker room tied at one and just didn’t come out strong enough and LSU played a great match today.”
The Gators seemed to be holding their own against a Tigers squad that swept them in Baton Rouge earlier in the season, but their inability to capitalize in the second set proved to be the downfall. Whereas Florida loosened up the reins on the momentum they gained after the first set, LSU kept applying the pressure and didn’t allow the Gators any room to breathe.
“Losing game two was really critical, although I thought we had the break in game one,” Wise said. “We probably shouldn’t have won game one. Going into the locker room 1-1 was about right. But having said that, a service error, a ball-handling error, really tough timing — LSU doesn’t make those errors. I think that’s an area where I hope this team can get better.”
The errors the Gators committed weren’t just run-of-the-mill errors. Florida mis-hit several balls that didn’t even make it over the net and misread several balls that the Gators allowed to fall to the court. They were the kind of errors a Top 10 team wouldn’t normally be making at this point of the season. Of course, the Gators also made some spectacular saves on balls that looked like they were all but guaranteed to hit the court or go into the stands, keeping several rallies alive. But ultimately, the timing of many of their service errors came at crucial moments that caused them to be fighting an uphill battle for much of the second half of the match.
“Our team’s inability to serve aggressively but also serve smart hurt us,” Wise said. “No question there were some really missed opportunities for scoring just by making service errors. What our team needs to learn how to do is serve aggressively but not commit as many service errors.”
The Gators made 16 serving errors in the match, including six in the crucial second set. Florida’s serving became so erratic that the players were just trying to keep the ball in bounds by the time the fourth set rolled around, making life very easy for the Tigers.
“In the fourth set it all came back again to serving,” Wise said. “We were trying not to miss serves, so we were serving easy balls. That’s what we did in Baton Rouge.”
Florida found out that it could only do so much against a Tigers team that just seems to have their number this season. Florida’s play became more inconsistent as the match wore on, eventually leading to the floodgates opening against the Gator front line, which had been doing an admirable job containing the vaunted Tiger attack of Brittnee Cooper and Marina Skender up until that point in the match.
Cooper’s lightning-quick vertical leap and swift attack finally became too much for Florida as she went 6-for-6 in the final set to end all hopes of a Florida rally. Cooper finished with 16 kills and a .500 attacking percentage in the match.
“In the fourth game, she just kind of took over,” sophomore Kelly Murphy said of Cooper. “I feel like we kind of contained her in the first few games, but after the second game, she just went off and we had no answer for it.”
Florida also had problems containing Skender, who made her presence known all over the court, knocking home 20 kills and digging up 15 balls. Wise did not hold back on praising her game after the match.
“She may in fact be the best volleyball player in the league,” Wise said. “She was terrific tonight. What she does for that team in all aspects of the game is pretty elite.”
Murphy put up another elite performance of her own in the match, recording her eighth triple-double of the year with 13 kills, 29 assists and 15 digs.
Cusack recorded 20 digs in the match, bringing her career total to 2,000, which is just 37 back of second place on the all-time SEC digs list.
Sophomores Kristy Jaeckel and Cassandra Anderson anchored the front line for most of the night, holding their own against LSU’s attackers. Jaeckel had 18 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Anderson had six kills with a .600 attacking percentage, while chipping in four blocks.
But even those solid performances were not enough to defeat an LSU team that proved it is one of the better conference teams Florida has had to battle in recent memory.
“LSU is definitely one of the best teams in the SEC since I’ve been here,” Cusack said. “That was a really good LSU team, probably one of the best SEC teams I’ve played.”
The loss puts the Gators virtually out of the SEC title race, barring a miracle, as they are two games back of Kentucky and one back of LSU with three to play. Florida has won 18 straight SEC championships.
“Right now it’s out of our control,” Wise said. “Our goal hasn’t changed. Our goal is to be playing our best volleyball at the end of the season. We will be a better team for playing LSU.”
If there’s any consolation for this young group of Gators, they know that their time will come when they are a senior-laden team showing the young guns what an experienced and talented team can truly do.
“That core group of sophomores is going to be able to do that to a young team some day,” Wise said.
SEC VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
EASTERN DIVISION
SEC Overall
Kentucky 15-1 25-2
Florida 14-3 20-4
Tennessee 12-4 19-7
Georgia 6-10 15-12
South Carolina 5-11 14-12
WESTERN DIVISION
SEC Overall
Louisiana State 15-2 21-5
Auburn 7-9 15-12
Alabama 6-11 8-19
Arkansas 5-11 11-16
Mississippi State 3-14 7-21
Mississippi 2-14 8-18
SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 13
Louisiana State 3, Florida 1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17)
Kentucky 3, Georgia 0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-14)
Auburn 3, Tennessee 2 (11-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-15)
South Carolina 3, South Carolina State 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-17)
Alabama 3, Mississippi 0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-19)
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 1 (25-15, 25-14, 21-25, 25-13)
Sunday, Nov. 14
Louisiana State at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Tennessee at Georgia, 2 p.m.
Arkansas at Alabama, 2 p.m.
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 2:30 p.m.
Kentucky at Auburn, 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 20
Florida at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
South Carolina at Kentucky, 7 p.m.
Auburn at Arkansas, 8 p.m.
Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 8 p.m.
Georgia at Mississippi, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 22
Florida at Kentucky, 1:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Tennessee, 1:30 p.m.
Alabama at Louisiana State, 2:30 p.m.
Georgia at Arkansas, 2:30 p.m.
Auburn at Mississippi, 2:30 p.m.
AVCA POLL
The American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings for Nov. 9:
1. Penn State (26-0); 2. Texas (19-1); 3. Hawaii (23-2); 4. Washington (20-3); 5. Illinois (20-3); 6. UCLA (19-6); 7. Stanford (16-7); 8. Iowa State (20-4); 9. Nebraska (18-6); 10. Florida (20-3).
11. Kentucky (24-2); 12. California (15-8); 13. Minnesota (19-7); 14. Michigan (20-7); 15. Florida State (23-2); 16. Oregon (16-6); 17. Southern California (15-9); 18. Arizona (17-7); 19. Louisiana State 20-5); 20. Saint Louis (19-6).
21. Baylor (20-6); 22. Northern Iowa (24-2); 23. St. Mary’s, Calif. (18-4); 24. Notre Dame (18-4); 25. (Tie) San Diego (16-6) and Washington State (16-8).