OXFORD, Miss. — The LSU volleyball team closed out the Southeastern Conference regular season schedule with a sweep of Ole Miss, 30-21, 30-17, 30-26, on Sunday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Complex.
With the win the Tigers avenged a loss to the Lady Rebels earlier in the season and improved to 16-10 on the year and 8-8 in league play, having won five of their last six matches, including two straight. Ole Miss fell to 10-16 overall and 2-14 in league play, after losing its last eight.
After completing the season in third place in the SEC Western Division, the Tigers will now travel to the SEC Tournament as the sixth seed. LSU will take on third-seeded Arkansas in its first match on Friday. The three-day tournament will take place at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
“This was a good way for us to close out the SEC regular season,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Now we will have to go back and prepare for the tournament next weekend.”
Sophomore Kassi Mikulik led the Tiger effort with 12 kills, followed by sophomore Melody Clark with 10 and a .350 hitting percentage, while LSU posted a .287 hitting percentage for the match. Junior Ivana Kuzmic posted a match best five blocks, while freshman Vanessa Freeman had four. Senior Rachel Pittman led the match with 11 digs.
“I thought Kassi did a good job on the outside and Melody had a great game in the middle,” said Flory. “Once again Dee Romero proved that she can run our offense effectively and efficiently.”
Ole Miss was led by Elena Garcia with nine kills and nine digs as the Lady Rebels failed to hit above .100 for the match, recording a .094 team hitting percentage. Defensively, Tricia Eble led the Lady Rebels with four blocks.
In the first game, LSU came out quickly and took a six-point lead, 10-4. Ole Miss battled back to within one, 15-14, before the Tigers broke it open for good with a 7-2 run. LSU went on to take the one game advantage, 30-21. As a team, the Tigers posted a .325 hitting percentage, led by five kills and a .500 hitting mark from Mikulik.
In game two, LSU used a 7-0 to break open an 18-7 lead over the Lady Rebels. Ole Miss got back to within nine points, before the Tigers put the Lady Rebels away by scoring the final five points of the game. LSU improved on its hitting percentage from the first game, posting a .345 mark in game two, while Ole Miss hit in negative figures, recording a -.144 mark.
The third game played even most of the way. There were seven ties before the Tigers took the lead for good at 19-18. LSU expanded its lead to five points, 25-20, before closing out the match, 30-26.
The Tigers will complete the regular season at home as they host the SEC/C-USA Challenge on Thanksgiving weekend. LSU will take on Tulane on Friday at 7 p.m. and Houston on Saturday at 7 p.m. Alabama will also take part in the tournament and play Houston on Friday at 5 p.m. and Tulane on Saturday at 5 p.m.
LSU def. Ole Miss 30-21, 30-17, 30-26
LSU (16-10 8-8) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kassi Mikulik 12-2-1; Melody Clark 10-0-3; Ivana Kuzmic 9-0-5; Regan Hood 8-1-2; Vanessa Freeman 6-0-4; Daniela Romero 4-3-2; Rachel Pittman 1-0-0; Totals 50-6-9.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 41. (Dig leaders) – Rachel Pittman 11; Regan Hood 7
Ole Miss (10-18 2-14) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Elena Garcia 9-0-0; Kristen Carroll 6-0-2; Cory Tidwell 5-0-3; Katie Kramer 4-0-0; Jaclyn Toohey 4-1-1; Lauren Moffett 3-0-0; Jennifer McGowan 2-0-0; Tricia Eble 2-0-4; Mary Nell Bennett 0-1-0; Ashleigh Shear 0-1-0; Totals 35-3-7.0. (Assists) – Jennifer McGowan 16; Ashleigh Shear 14. (Dig leaders) – Elena Garcia 9; Ashleigh Shear 5