BATON ROUGE — Junior Rachel Vogt recorded the first double-double of her career with 12 kills and 10 digs on Wednesday night to lead the LSU volleyball team to a 30-23, 30-20, 30-25 victory over New Orleans.
The win was the Tigers (9-5) fifth consecutive and the seventh in the last eight matches. New Orleans (5-10) lost for the fourth time in five matches.
Senior Meghan Bedford led all players with 14 kills while junior Jennifer Hampton’s 15 digs was a match high. Ann MacMillan paced the Privateers with 11 kills.
“I think we are satisfied with the win, but we are dissatisfied with the level of intensity and preparation with which we entered the match,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “But it’s always nice to get a win.”
Freshman Regan Hood, making her first career start, notched a match-high seven blocks to help slow the UNO attack, which hit just .054 for the match.
Meanwhile, the Tigers were much more efficient, hitting .262 on the evening.
“I think Regan Hood did a really nice job of filling in for Lauren Cuyler, who we tried to rest tonight,” Flory said of the freshman. “It’s nice to be able to rest some key players and not be on the verge of losing key games.”
Defense was the key early on for LSU as it forced UNO into a -.048 attack percentage in first game. The Tigers managed just a .182 clip, but was buoyed by the serving efforts of Jenny Greco.
With LSU trailing 20-19 in the first stanza, Greco served nine consecutive points to give the Tigers a commanding 28-20 lead. The nine straight points is tied for 15th in NCAA history for most consecutive points on won by a single server.
“The area I asked Greco to address in the offseason was for her to become a solid server and be a point scorer for us,” said Flory. “Her being 15th all time shows how efficient and effective she has become. She has done that against every team we have played.”
The Tiger offense picked it up in the second frame, hitting .289 led by Bedford, Meagan Davis and Vogt, who each recorded four kills. New Orleans was still unable to get on track offensively, hitting .000. Bedford had 11 of her 14 kills by the end of the second game.
“Bedford was the key. She was the only person for the first two games who had any real aggressive approach to things and any true intensity level. I have to say she did a good job tonight,” Flory said.
Game three was a reversal of the first two as LSU’s offense carried the team as it hit for a .318 clip. Freshman setter Beth Cowley came in and notched 15 assists in the game while leading the Tigers to the high efficiency.
The Tigers will be back in action on Friday when they face Rice at 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The match is a make up from the one that was cancelled following the events of Sept. 11.