BATON ROUGE — Despite 15 kills and four service aces by Jelena Mijatovic, the LSU volleyball fell to Arkansas, 23-30, 19-30, 19-30, on Tuesday night in the Maravich Center.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 11-9 on the year and 3-7 in Southeastern Conference play. The Lady’Backs improved to 10-10, including a 7-3 record in league play, best in the SEC Western Division.
LSU had trouble passing the ball throughout the match, which led to a breakdown in the offensive attack. The Tigers hit only .017 as a team, committing 33 errors to only 35 kills. Conversely, Arkansas hit .281 as a team after averaging only .179 going into the match. In addition, the Lady’Backs recorded 17.5 blocks to only six for LSU.
“Our ball control broke down and when we can’t pass well our offense can’t get into rhythm,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “This was Arkansas’ best match of the year, their most complete match of the year. It’s sad that it’s against us, but that’s okay. We know what they’re capable of and we’ll get them again in a couple of weeks and we’ll be better next time. We put ourselves behind the eight ball tonight and we couldn’t get out from behind it.”
Mijatovic led the match with 15 kills and four aces. The junior from Belgrade, Serbia, leads the team in kills per game on the season and ranks 12th in the NCAA in service aces per game.
“I thought Jelena did a nice job,” said Flory. “She had to carry a big load and she played well enough for us to win, just nobody else around her did.”
Sophomore Kassi Mikulik led the Tigers with six kills, while junior Ivana Kuzmic led the team with five blocks. Senior Beth Cowley and sophomore Daniela Romero split time at setter, recording 16 and 10 assists respectively.
The Lady’Backs were led by Jennifer Haaser with 10 kills and 10 blocks for the match’s only double-double. Ashley Miller led Arkansas with 13 digs and two service aces.
In the first game, LSU took a three-point lead midway through, 14-11. Four-straight points by the Lady’Backs gave them the lead, 15-14. There would be two ties before Arkansas took the lead for good with a 4-0 run, 20-16. The Tigers got back within on, 20-22, but could get no closer as the Lady’Backs took the first game, 30-23.
LSU fell behind early in the second game and could never recover. Trailing 12-9, the Tigers allowed a six-point run by Arkansas to put the Lady’Backs ahead, 18-9. Arkansas went on to take the two-game advantage, 30-19.
The third game played out in much the same way as the second. The Lady’Backs jumped out to an early 11-8 lead and then went on a 5-0 run to pull ahead, 16-8. LSU fought back to within six, 21-15, but could get no closer as Arkansas went on to take the match, 30-19.
The Tigers remain at home this weekend to take on Auburn and Alabama. LSU will host AU on Friday at 7 p.m. before facing the Crimson Tide on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Tigers defeated Auburn, 3-1, and lost to Alabama, 0-3, in earlier meetings this season. Sunday’s match against the Crimson Tide will be televised on SEC-TV in Baton Rouge on FSN Southwest (cable channel 38).
Arkansas def. LSU 30-23, 30-19, 30-19
Arkansas (10-10-, 7-3 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jennifer Haaser 10-1-10; Karia Crose 9-0-5; Denitza Koleva 8-1-4; Jessica Dorrell 6-0-3; Kele Brewer 5-0-4; Amy Allison 4-0-8; Iva Docekalova 1-1-0; Amanda Eskridge 1-1-0; Ashley Miller 0-2-0; Totals 44-6-17.5. (Assists) – Iva Docekalova 19; Amanda Eskridge 17. (Dig leaders) – Ashley Miller 13; Karia Crose 5
LSU (11-9, 3-7 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 15-4-0; Regan Hood 9-1-1; Kassi Mikulik 4-0-1; Vanessa Freeman 3-0-2; Ivana Kuzmic 3-0-5; Beth Cowley 1-0-0; Melody Clark 0-0-1; Totals 35-5-6.0. (Assists) – Beth Cowley 16; Daniela Romero 10. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 6; Beth Cowley 5