ATLANTA — Maja Pachale hit for 23 kills to lead Georgia Tech to a 30-24, 30-24, 30-22, victory over LSU on Sunday afternoon in the final match of the Georgia Tech Classic.
The loss drops LSU to 2-4 on the season while the Yellow Jackets improved to 4-2. The game was broadcast by Fox Sports South and will be aired on Sept. 16 at 3 p.m. and Sept. 18 at 11 a.m.
“I thought we showed good fight today in coming back in game three,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “But we can’t keep digging holes for ourselves and expect to get out of them. It happened in all three games today.”
Meagan Davis was the Tigers main offensive weapon, hitting for 10 kills on just 17 attempts en route to a .529 hitting percentage. Rachel Vogt was the main force at the net, recording six blocks while Jenny Greco and Jennifer Hampton led the defense with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
“What can you say about Meagan? She just keeps producing for us, but we can’t seem to get the ball to her enough,” Flory noted. “She only had 17 swings in the match. That number needs to be higher for us to be successful.”
With a crowd of 1,853 behind it, Georgia Tech raced out to an early 9-3 advantage in the first game. The game went back and forth the rest of the way as LSU was unable to cut the lead below four.
Lauren Sauer and Pachale had six and five kills, respectively, to pace the Tech attack. Lynette Moster and Kele Eveland each recorded six digs in the game.
The Tigers were led by Davis and Meghan Bedford, who had three kills a piece. Vogt’s three blocks and Hampton’s six digs to led the defense.
Georgia Tech jumped all over LSU in the second game and owned a quick 5-0 lead. The Tigers managed to close the lead to two as late as 19-17, but could get no closer.
The Yellow Jackets were on fire the whole game, hitting .353 compared to
LSU’s .075 clip. Pachale led the charge with nine kills in the game. Bedford and Davis each notched four kills for the Tigers.
LSU reversed the trend in game three opening up early four point leads at 9-5 and 10-6. However, Tech came right back with an 8-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. The lead reached five, 18-13, before the Tigers rallied to tie the game at 20 and 21. However, the Yellow Jackets answered with nine straight points before closing out the game.
Kyra Lancon’s four kills in just five attempts in the third stanza led LSU while Pachale again paced Tech with nine kills.
LSU will next be in action on Friday, Sept. 14 in the Tiger Classic when it faces Rice at 1 p.m. and George Mason at 7 p.m.