WACO, Texas. – The Samford volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the 2024 season in a 3-1 (21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25) loss to LSU on the first day of the Baylor Classic Friday evening.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 5-1 on the young season. LSU improved to 6-2 with the victory.
 
Samford was led in the loss by Kaleigh Meritt with 18 kills and 10 digs. Gracie Lynn Butler had nine kills and 10 digs, while Kate Morgan had a team-high 22 digs. Lexi Thatcher finished the match with a team-high 40 assists.
 
For LSU, Lainee Pyles tallied 14 kills to lead the Tigers. Angeline Lee and Jade Demps had 10 kills each for LSU.
 
In the first set, after falling behind early, Samford came back to take a 13-11 lead on a service ace by Butler. LSU fought back to take a 17-14 lead, but the Bulldogs were able to bounce back to take a 20-19 lead on an LSU attack error. With the score tied at 20-20, LSU scored five of the next six points to take the first set by a score of 25-21.
 
LSU raced out to a 6-1 lead in the second set. Samford fought back to take an 8-7 lead on an LSU attack error. LSU came back to take a 14-10 lead before Samford bounced back to take a 17-16 advantage. With the score tied at 23-23, back-to-back LSU points gave the Tigers the 25-23 set victory.
 
In the third set, Samford scored the first three points to take a 3-0 lead on a kill by Meritt. The Bulldogs took a six-point lead at 11-5 on another Meritt kill. After LSU cut the lead to 11-9, Samford pushed its lead to 17-12 on a kill by Kate Wonus. With Samford leading, 20-15, LSU scored five-straight points to knot the score at 20-20. With the score tied at 23-23, back-to-back kills by Wonus and Meritt gave Samford the 25-23 set win.
 
LSU jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the fourth set. With LSU leading, 18-13, Samford came back to tie the score at 21-21 on an LSU attack error. The teams traded the next few points until, with score tied at 23-23, LSU was able to secure back-to-back points to win the set, 25-23 and the match, 3-1.
 
Samford will remain in Waco to take on the host Baylor Bears Sunday at 1 p.m. The match can be seen live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available.
 
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