BATON ROUGE – In front of the ninth largest crowd in LSU volleyball history, the Tigers defeated Kentucky, 30-22, 33-31, 30-32, 30-27, on Sunday afternoon in the Maravich Center.
The crowd of 984 watched LSU improve to 11-8 on the season and 3-6 in Southeastern Conference play. The Wildcats dropped to 11-10 overall and 2-8 in league action.
After taking a different approach to practice this week and trying to emphasize that this match was a new start to the season, the Tigers were forced into a different look with the loss of setter Daniela Romero to an injury.
“We were very different today, a little because of our approach, but with Dee going down it kind of changed everything for us,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “But a new start is a new start. It’s a ‘W’ and we’re happy to have it.”
Stepping in for Romero, senior Beth Cowley posted a career match. The senior from Louisville, Ky., recorded 65 assists, two shy of a top 10 performance in school history. The mark is also the most by a Tiger in a four-game match this season and just the second 60-plus assist match for LSU this year.
“I think it’s a great performance by Beth Cowley with Dee Romero going out to an injury,” said Flory. “Beth hasn’t set a match in a long time and she just said ‘Fran I got it’ and she did a great job. We helped her a little bit, but it was her on the court and I think she made the difference in the match. She made the right choices, she created the right opportunities. Our entire team responded to that. They respect her and they want her on the court.”
In the first game, the Tigers used a 4-0 run to pull away and take the one game lead, 30-22. In game two, there were 21 tied scores and 14 lead changes. LSU fought off a game point by Kentucky and finally took the game on its third game point, 33-31.
The Tigers led by as many as seven early in the third game, but the Wildcats came back to tie it up at 15 all. There were 11 more tied scores before Kentucky broke through with back-to-back kills to get on the board, 32-30.
“We just lost our focus in the third game,” said Flory. “We have a history of coming out of the locker room after game two and being a little bit complacent on the court, especially if we are up two or if we won the second game. We have to do a better job of managing that on our own side of the net within our own attitudes and our approach to things.”
In the fourth game, LSU fell behind by as many as six, but fought back to tie the game at 20 all. There would be four more tied scores before the Tigers would break through with a 5-2 run to close out the match, 30-27.
Junior Jelena Mijatovic posted a pair of 20-plus marks, with 26 kills and 21 digs. The 26 kills ties her for the 12th most in a four-game match in school history, while the 21 digs is tied for the 15th most in LSU history. The Belgrade, Serbia, native, also became the first player since Regan Hood on Sept. 24, 2003 to record over 25 kills in a match. The SEC leader in service aces per game also posted a match-best four service aces.
Senior Rachel Pittman led the match with 25 digs for the Tigers. The Slidell native tied the sixth most digs in a four-game match in school history with her performance. She now has two 20-plus digs matches this season, having recorded 26 kills against Miami in a five-game match.
Sophomore Kassi Mikulik recorded her eighth double-double of the season with a career-high 19 kills and 12 digs. Senior Regan Hood had 11 kills for the Tigers, while junior Ivana Kuzmic posted 10. The SEC leader in blocks per game, Kuzmic led the Tiger with seven blocks.
Freshman Sarah Greco saw her first action of the year as the New Orleans native came in during the fourth game on several key serves. While LSU as a team recorded 12 service errors in the match, Greco did not miss a serve in six attempts, including a key serve late in the match.
“We used Sarah Greco for the first time this year to serve and she did a great job,” said Flory. “She put some pressure on the other team and came through with some clutch serves in tough situations for the first time for a kid to step on the court for the whole year. That was a nice performance by her and she’ll get some more chances after that.”
The Wildcats had four players in double figures in kills, led by Amy Kaplan with 15. Kaplan also led Kentucky with eight blocks. The Wildcats were led by Jenni Casper with 22 digs.
LSU remains at home for three matches this week. The Tigers will face SEC Western Division-leading Arkansas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Center. LSU will the host rematches with Auburn on Friday at 7 p.m. and Alabama on Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday’s match will be televised live on SEC-TV in Baton Rouge on FSN Southwest (cable channel 38).
LSU def. Kentucky 30-22, 33-31, 30-32, 30-27
Kentucky (11-10, 2-8 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Amy Kaplan 15-1-8; Danielle Wallace 13-0-7; Melissa Popp 11-0-0; Alex Montefalco 10-0-2; Sarah Spinner 8-1-0; Leigh Marcum 2-0-3; Ki Eveland 2-0-1; Kristen Cunningham 1-0-5; Totals 62-2-13.0. (Assists) – Ki Eveland 26; Leigh Marcum 23. (Dig leaders) – Jenni Casper 22; Melissa Popp 10; Kathleen Bowler 8
LSU (11-8, 3-6 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 26-4-0; Kassi Mikulik 19-1-0; Regan Hood 11-0-1; Ivana Kuzmic 10-0-7; Melody Clark 4-0-5; Beth Cowley 2-1-3; Michelle Hensgens 1-1-0; Totals 73-7-8.0. (Assists) – Beth Cowley 65. (Dig leaders) – Rachel Pittman 25; Jelena Mijatovic 21; Kassi Mikulik 12