BATON ROUGE — LSU head coach Fran Flory recorded her 100th win at the helm of the Tiger program as the purple and gold swept Georgia, 30-28, 30-21, 30-27, to open Southeastern Conference play on Friday night in the Maravich Center.
With the win, the Tigers move to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC, improving their winning streak to six straight matches, the longest winning streak since 2001. For the first time this season, Georgia was swept, falling to 7-3 on the year, after a pair of 3-1 losses to top 10-ranked teams.
“I like the way our team played together tonight,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “They fed off each other’s energy. I did not like the way we came out in game three. I thought we played not to lose instead of to win, but overall it was a great performance. Our outside hitters, Kassi (Mikulik) and Jelena (Mijatovic) did a great job tonight and I am really proud of them.”
Mijatovic led the Tigers with her third double-double of the season, recording 17 kills and 12 digs. Mikulik posted her fourth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 10 digs. Ivana Kuzmic also recorded her fourth-straight match with double-figure kills, having 12 on the day.
Rachel Pittman led the team with 16 digs, while Michelle Hensgens also posted in double-figures with 10. Regan Hood led the team with four blocks, while Daniela Romero was a dig away from a double-double with 42 assists and nine digs.
As a team, the Tigers bounced back from a .065 hitting performance in the first game to hit .239 for the match. In the third game, LSU posted a .400 clip, best of the match. The Tigers bested Georgia in almost every statistical category, outkilling, outhitting and outdigging the Bulldogs. The pair were tied with seven blocks each.
In the first game, LSU fell behind early, trailing by as many as four points, 13-9. The Tigers rallied to tie the game at 14 all. Leading by four, 23-19, Georgia would not go away, coming back to tie it at 26 all. LSU would not give the game away, however, and with the game tied at 28, the Tigers scored the final two points to take 1-0 advantage.
“I thought we were nervous and uptight and we played tense rather than intense in game one,” said Flory. “We settled down and passed the ball well and got into our rhythm in game two.”
Tied at 10 in the second game, LSU went on a 10-3 run to pull out to the seven-point lead. Georgia got to within four points, but would get no closer as the Tigers coasted to a 30- 21 win and the two-game lead.
LSU took the 7-4 lead early in the third game, but the Bulldogs rallied to tie it at eight all. There would be 11 more ties before the Tigers would take the lead for good, 22-21. LSU led by as many as four, 26-22, before Georgia came back to within one, 28-27. The Tigers scored the final two points of the game to take the match, 30-27.
LSU returns to action on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Maravich Center against No. 5-ranked Florida. The Gators were 3-1 winners over Arkansas on the road on Friday. The match will be shown on Cox Sports Television (Baton Rouge cable channel 27) tape delayed at 8:30 p.m.
Florida is currently riding an NCAA record 131 consecutive regular season conference match winning streak. The Tigers will look to be the first team to knock off the Gators since 1994 and defeat Florida for the first time since 1991.
LSU def. Georgia 30-28, 30-21, 30-27
Georgia (7-3, 0-1 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Alexandra Oquendo 14-2-2; Meagan Welch 9-0-1; Julia Petruschke 8-1-2; Simona Speed 3-0-2; Angela Hale 2-0-2; Brooke Burlingame 0-1-0; Margot Wallace 0-1-2; Jennie Metz 0-1-0; Amy Krahn 0-0-1; Totals 36-6-7.0. (Assists) – Margot Wallace 32. (Dig leaders) – Brooke Burlingame 12; Julia Petruschke 9; Meagan Welch 9; Margot Wallace 8
LSU (9-1, 1-0 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 17-1-2; Ivana Kuzmic 12-0-2; Kassi Mikulik 11-2-1; Regan Hood 8-0-4; Melody Clark 6-0-1; Daniela Romero 2-2-2; Totals 56-5-7.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 42. (Dig leaders) – Rachel Pittman 16; Jelena Mijatovic 12; Michelle Hensgens 10; Kassi Mikulik 10; Daniela Romero 9