BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team won its sixth straight match on Friday night with a 30-26, 30-19, 30-25 victory over non-conference foe Rice at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU improved to 10-5 on the season while Rice fell to 7-7.
Junior Jennifer Hampton paced the Tigers with 15 kills and a .464 hitting percentage to help overcome the absence of senior Meagan Davis, who had her string of 84 consecutive starts snapped on Friday.
“Jennifer did a great job stepping up tonight,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “I felt like we would need a good performance from her tonight to fill the void left by Meagan.”
LSU outhit the Owls .231-.134 and registered 51 kills to just 42 for Rice en route to the victory. Freshman Kyra Lancon and senior Meghan Bedford were also in double-figures for the Tigers with 11 kills a piece.
Contributing to the Owls offensive woes was LSU’s solid blocking, led by freshman Regan Hood who had a career-high nine blocks on the night. She has 16 in her last two matches.
Elizabeth Davenport Pollock notched 13 kills and a .455 hitting percentage to lead Rice.
Game one began closely as neither team was able to stretch the lead beyond four. However, a four-point run by the Tigers gave them a late 28-24 lead which turned into a 1-0 advantage in the match.
In the second frame, LSU used strong early serving from Bedford to take a 12-6 lead. Bedford served nine consecutive points, tying her for 15th in NCAA history for most consecutive points won on serve. With a big lead, the Tigers kept the Owls at bay in taking a 2-0 lead.
“Meghan’s serving was good all night long,” Flory said. “She definitely gives us an advantage when she is back there.”
The third game was similar to the first as it was close throughout. Tied 15-15, LSU won five of the next six points to take a lead it would not relinquish.
The Tigers return to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT in Columbia, S.C., where it will face 19th-ranked South Carolina in Southeastern Conference clash.