BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team held off a scrappy Southern Miss team in its final home match for a 15-4, 8-15, 15-8, 7-15, 15-8.
The Tigers improved to 17-12 on the season and clinched their first winning season since 1995 with the win. The loss was the Golden Eagles sixth consecutive and dropped them to 12-17 on the season.
“I was a disappointed in the way we played,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “But a win is a win and we’ll take it.”
It is the second-straight match LSU has had to go five games to earn the win.
“We have proven to ourselves that we are a good game five team. Tonight will add to our confidence in that type of situation,” said Flory.
The Tigers inconsistency from game-to-game on offense proved to be the difference as the match progressed. LSU had a hitting percentage of above .400 in games three and five while hitting below .150 in games two and four.
“I thought we had good balance and hit with good efficiency most of the time, but I didn’t like our attitude on the court. We played not to lose instead of to win,” said Flory.
Southern Miss had more digs, 68 to 57, and blocks, 11 to nine, than the Tigers while having the same number of kills, 69 for each team, in the five-game match.
“We entered the game with a lack of intensity thinking we were going to get an easy win,” said Flory. “I think this is a good lesson for our team to learn, but it should have been learned before this point in the season.
Senior Kelly Thompson, playing in her final home match, led five Tigers in double-figure kills with 16. Sophomore Meagan Davis added 14 while Meghan Beford, Jennifer Hampton, and Lyndsey Benson added 11 each.
Thompson sparked the Tiger defense on the evening with a team high 11 digs and four blocks.
LSU travels to Alabama for a Friday match and to Auburn for a Sunday match. The Tigers will need to beat Auburn to secure a second place finish in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
Two wins on the weekend would vault LSU into the No. 4 position in the conference, which would be the teams highest conference finish since 1993.