AUBURN, Ala. — Outside hitter Meghan Bedford had career-highs of 23 kills and 12 digs to lead LSU to a 13-15, 15-7, 4-15, 15-5, 15-12, win at Auburn on Friday evening.
The stats were relatively even in the close match with LSU killing 77 balls en route to a .247 attack percentage while Auburn had 79 and a .250 attack percentage. LSU also had 77 kills to Auburn’s 75.
“This is a great win for us. This is what we have been trying to do,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “We figured out how to get over the hump and play through a hostile environment like Auburn. For us to be that strong together tells me we are headed in the right direction.”
It is the first win for LSU (6-6, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) at Auburn (7-6, 0-3) since 1991 when the visiting Tigers took a three game decision. LSU was 0-7 on the plains in that span.
“You have to win on the road to win the SEC and we think we still have a shot at winning the Western Division,” said Flory. “When you win on the road you put yourself in a position to win championships and now we have taken the first step.”
Bedford, who was not at 100% due to an injured back, was a staple of consistency for LSU in the match as she hit for at least five kills in each of the first four games before having two in rally-scoring game five.
“Meghan was awesome tonight,” said Flory. “We didn’t know if she was going to be able to go until this evening and that is a huge effort for her. She is an integral part of our offense and she has to be on for us to be successful.”
Two Tigers along with Bedford, had double-double performance as outside hitter Jennifer Hampton and setter Katie Kubena were each able to accomplish the feat. Hampton, who leads the team with five double-doubles hit for 17 kills and a recorded a career-high 23 digs in the win.
“Hampton is a great defensive player and she is going to dig a ton of balls. Tonight she was about half of our ball control and that was what kept us on the court. She might not have the kills as some other people, but she touched the ball almost every time it came to our side,” said Flory about the sophomore.
Kubena notched her second consecutive double-double with 63 assists in running the offense and a career-high 17 digs.
“That is a huge effort for Katie because she struggles in defense,” Flory said. “So for her to have 17 digs is amazing. It shows she is doing a great job of not only setting, but playing defense and blocking as well.”
Game one started off even with LSU eventually building a 7-5 lead. However, Auburn put up five straight points to take a lead they would never relinquish. Auburn, led by Hamilton’s six kills outhit .375 to .222 in the game.
The Bengal Tigers came back to knot the match in game two. As in game one, LSU jumped to a 7-5 lead. However, in this game it was the visiting Tigers that ran off five straight to take control of the game. Bedford’s five kills led LSU as it hit for a .415 clip to only .128 for Auburn.
The Tigers from the plains rebounded to take game three in the back-and-forth match. After trailing 2-1, Auburn scored nine in a row to cruise to the game victory. LSU managed only a .049 attack percentage while Auburn reverted to its’ game one form by hitting .378.
With its back against the wall, LSU answered in game four to send the match to a deciding game five. For the second game of the match, the Bengal Tigers, again led by Bedford’s five kills, hit at least .400 as they were right on that mark. Auburn was only able to manage a .154 attack percentage.
Game five was deadlocked until LSU broke a 5-5 tie with five straight points and then managed to hold off the home-standing Tigers.