FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas clinched at least a tie for its seventh Southeastern Conference West volleyball title in eight years Sunday by rallying to beat LSU 24-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-23 in Barnhill Arena.
Seniors Eftila Tanellari and Jenny Rangelova went out in style in their last home SEC match for Arkansas, with 22 kills and 29 assists respectively.
The Lady Razorbacks (16-9, 11-2 SEC), in a funk since their loss to Florida nine days earlier, kept slumbering until LSU (13-9, 8-5 SEC) suffered two injuries in Sunday's second game.
LSU setter Katie Kubena left that game early with a bloody nose, and Tigers middle blocker Lauren Cuyler followed her to the bench with a twisted right ankle after LSU had taken an 8-4 lead. LSU's reserve setter had played just four games this season.
"That was the break we needed to catch our breath and get rolling like we had been before our devastating loss to Florida," said UA coach Chris Poole. "You could just feel the momentum shift, and we relaxed and played well again."
Rangelova, who ranks third in UA career assists with 1,815, regained her confidence after Poole changed his rotation in Game 2.
"We were kinda down because we had lost two matches in a row, but we gave 100 percent of what we can do today," Rangelova said. "We played smart."
Tanellari, benefiting from the altered rotation, pushed her career kills total to 1,133 -- seventh best in UA history. She's fifth in the SEC in career kills per game (3.43) and sixth in SEC digs (3.11 per game).
After getting a yellow card for briefly arguing a call with the referee in Game 2, Tanellari responded with a kill on game point for a 30-28 UA win.
"Then Eftila turned it loose in Games 3 and 4," Poole said. "That gave us a big boost in confidence."
UA junior Anna Velikanova had 13 kills and a team-high 17 digs, while Michelle Coens provided 11 timely kills, with at least two in each game. Arkansas freshman Jennifer Haaser of Fort Smith matched her career best with 10 block assists.
"With us, our mental state is our biggest challenge," Poole said. "Some of our most emotional players are not our best all-around skill players, so we have to keep a balance. But after seeing the determination our football team had against Ole Miss, I told our team there was no reason we couldn't put two losses behind us and raise our level again."
Arkansas needs at least one win at Auburn or Alabama this weekend to clinch the SEC West and the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament (Nov. 16-18 in Knoxville, Tenn.) behind overall champion Florida.
But first, Southwest Missouri State (17-5 entering the weekend) visits Arkansas at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
"SMS has one of its best teams in years," Poole said. "We need 20 wins to feel good about making the NCAA Tournament, so this is a big week for us."
Meagan Davis led LSU with 17 kills, but the Tigers couldn't sustain the type of play they showed in beating Arkansas at Baton Rouge, La., on Friday night, even though Kubena and Cuyler returned to action by Game 3 on Sunday.
"LSU played great Friday night," Poole said. "They were in a great rhythm today, too, until we got them in a guessing game. Volleyball is such a momentum sport, and after we had some smiles and deep breaths I said, 'OK, we're back.'"
LSU 30 28 22 23
UA 24 30 30 30
