NEW ORLEANS — Tiger senior Jennifer Hampton broke the 1,000-kill mark as the LSU volleyball team fought off a scrappy Louisiana Tech team to take a five-game win, 30-14, 26-30, 32-30, 25-30, 15-5 in the Sugar Bowl Classic Friday afternoon in Fogelman Arena.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 3-1 on the year, while the Lady Techsters fall to 2-4. LSU will conclude play in the tournament on Saturday against UNO at 11:30 a.m. and host Tulane at 7 p.m.
“We did a poor job preparing for this match,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We are lucky to come away with a win and hopefully we will use this as a learning experience for the future. We probably deserved to lose today because Louisiana Tech executed better than we did today. Now we have to come right back prepared to play tomorrow.”
Hampton became just the 12th person in LSU history to break the 1,000-kill mark for her career. With a game-high 26 kills, she now has 1,015 kills in her career. Recording her 37th career double-double with 14 digs, she now has 1,050 career digs. She is just the fourth person in Tiger history to record both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career.
Senior Lauren Cuyler also recorded double-figure kill numbers with 16 along with a game-high seven blocks. Senior Katie Kubena added 13 kills and 49 assists, while Rachel Vogt had 16 digs.
After Louisiana Tech kept the score close early in the first game, the Tigers broke the game open. A 13-2 run widened the LSU lead from 11-8 to a commanding 24-10 advantage. The Tigers then went on to put the first game away 30-14 on a pair of aces by Katie Kubena.
After dominating the first game, the Tigers did not have the same intensity to start the second game, but kept the game close. LSU then had several costly calls for being in the net that broke the game open for Louisiana Tech.
A 6-1 Lady Techster run opened up a five point lead, 20-15. The Tigers responded and were able to cut Tech lead to two points, 25-23, but could get no closer as LTU went on to take the second game.
In the third game, LSU jumped out to an early 10-6 lead, looking like the team that had dominated game one, but Louisiana Tech would not go away. The Lady Techsters rallied to tie the game at 14 before taking a 19-18 lead. LSU retook the lead, 22-21 and did not relinquish it the rest of the way, finally putting the game away, 32-30.
After LSU was able to take a 13-11 lead in the fourth game, Louisiana Tech went on a 9-3 run to open up a six-point lead. After the Lady Techsters extended the lead to seven points, 27-20, the Tigers rallied to cut the lead to 29-24, but could get no closer. Tech went on to win the game 30-25 and send the match to a decisive fifth game.
With the match on the line, LSU rose to the challenge and dominated game five. The Tigers allowed only five Louisiana Tech points, two of which were scored on service errors by LSU, as the Tigers rolled to a 15-5 victory. LSU used a fast pace and good blocking that had been the key in the first game to overpower the Lady Techsters and take the match.
With the win, the Tigers remain undefeated against the Lady Techsters and improve to 5-0 all-time against Louisiana Tech.