BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The 25th-ranked Notre Dame volleyball team used a balanced attack that saw five players hit for more than seven kills to down LSU, 30-24, 30-15, 30-25, on Friday in the first day of play at the Florida Conference Challenge.
The Tigers fall to 15-11 on the season while the Irish move to 22-5. LSU faces Virginia Tech on Saturday at 11 a.m. CST while the Irish take on host Florida. The Gators beat the Hokies in three games in the second match on Friday.
Kyra Lancon led all players with 10 kills, but that was not enough as the Tigers recorded just 29 as a team compared to 44 for Notre Dame.
The hitting percentages told the story as the Irish blistered the ball for a .345 clip while LSU could only muster a .090 mark.
The strong serving efforts of Notre Dame kept the Tiger offense off balance all day long as they notched 14 service aces compared to just seven errors.
Jessica Kinder and Janie Aldrete each had four aces on the afternoon. LSU had a solid serving day with seven aces, but could not match the Irish.
The Tigers led late in game one, 22-20, but were unable to close out the game as Notre Dame took 10 of the last 12 points for a one-game lead.
In the second game, LSU opened quickly for a 2-0 lead, but fell behind soon, 9-5, after another Irish run. Trailing early, the Tigers could not overcome the .692 hitting percentage Notre Dame posted in game two.
The third frame was another back-and-forth affair before the Irish finally gained some breathing room at 20-16 and coasted to the victory.