BATON ROUGE — Led by 11 kills and seven blocks by Ivana Kuzmic, the LSU volleyball team swept Central Florida, 30-24, 30-24, 30-23, in the final match of the Hurricane Frances Invitational on Sunday afternoon at the Maravich Center.
With the win the Tigers improved to 3-0 on the season, marking the best start for LSU since starting 5-0 in 1998. The Golden Knights fell to 0-3 after a pair of losses to the Tigers and a loss to Rice.
“I think we established that we can be a very good team,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We showed our potential. I like the people we have and I think we’ll be better next weekend. I was really, really pleased with our setting by Daniela Romero and with the play of our insides by Ivana Kuzmic and Regan Hood. Melody Clark also stepped up and did a nice job for us on the right side.”
For her efforts Hood was named the Hurricane Frances Invitational Most Valuable Player. The senior from Carrollton, Texas, averaged 3.25 kills per game, 2.33 digs per game and 1.08 blocks per game. Romero, Kuzmic and Clark were also named to the all-tournament team for the Tigers along with Emily Watts of UCF and Lindsey Carter and Olaya Pazo of Rice.
Kuzmic posted her second double-figure kill total of the season, while leading the team in blocking for the third-straight match. In addition, she hit at a .360 clip.
Hood recorded six blocks with five kills, while Romero posted four blocks with seven kills and 29 assists. Jelena Mijatovic led the team with seven service aces, including four in the first game.
Watts led Central Florida with nine kills, while Michelle Spaleta recorded 16 digs. Amy Stoutjesdyk posted a team-best three blocks for the Golden Knights.
In the first game, the Tigers broke a 2-2 tie with a 9-1 run, sparked by four service aces by Mijatovic. LSU led by as many as 10 before UCF inched its way back into the game, getting as close are four, 25-21. Leading 28-24, the Tigers recorded back-to-back kills to close out the game.
The Golden Knights trailed by as many as seven in the second game, 25-18, before rattling off five straight points to cut the margin to two. LSU responded with a 5-1 run to close out the game.
The Tigers trailed for the first time in the match early in the third game. Behind 7-3, LSU came back to tie the game at eight. Neither team could game more than a point advantage through the next 11 points. Tied at 19, the Tigers took the lead for good, 20-19, on a block by Hood and Kassi Mikulik. LSU closed out the match with a 10-4 run, sealed with a kill by Mijatovic.
The Tigers return to action on Friday against Texas at 6:30 p.m. in the Texas Invitational in Austin. LSU closes out the tournament on Saturday with matches against Liberty at 10 a.m. and Louisiana Tech at 4:30 p.m.