BATON ROUGE — It took five games, but the LSU volleyball team defeated in-state rival Tulane, 33-31, 30-18, 32-34, 25-30, 15-13, on Friday night in the second game of the SEC/C-USA Challenge in the Maravich Center.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 17-11 on the season, while the Green Wave dropped to 17-11 on the year. LSU has now won six of its last eight matches.
After taking the two-game lead, the Tigers had four match points in the third game, but could not close out the match. Tulane went on to take the third game and stay alive. The Green Waved played with a new intensity in the fourth game, defeating LSU to send the match to a decisive fifth game. The Tigers scored the first five points in the fifth game before Tulane rallied back to tie it up at 11 all. After two more ties, the Tigers closed out the match with back-to-back kills.
“I think we came out a little flat tonight and we’re lucky to survive this match,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We just didn’t have that killer instinct and we did not control our side of the net very well. Credit Tulane for coming back from two games down. They created problems for us.”
LSU will now close out the tournament on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Houston. The Cougars rallied from two-games down to defeat Alabama, 3-2 on Friday. The Crimson Tide will take on the Green Wave at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
“We will have to come out better tomorrow because Houston is a better team and played better today,” said Flory. “We are just going to have to rally the troops and come out with intensity. We will have to play with a different level of preparedness.”
Sophomore Kassi Mikulik led five Tigers with double-figure kill performances, recording a career-high 24 kills, while posting 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Sophomore Melody Clark and junior Ivana Kuzmic each recorded 13 kills, followed by freshman Vanessa Freeman with 12 and senior Regan Hood with 11.
Sophomore Daniela Romero recorded 63 assists, while leading the team with 20 digs for her ninth double-double of the year. Senior Rachel Pittman posted 18 digs, followed by Hood with 14 and Mikulik with 13. Kuzmic led the match with nine blocks for the Tigers, one away from giving her a double-double in the match, while Clark added five.
Tulane was led by Lindsey Norman with 22 kills, followed by Anastasia Kenon with 20, Deva Fowler with 17 and Blair Moon with 10. Kelli Dickson moved from setter to libero midway through the match, recording a double-double with 27 assists and a match-best 25 digs. Norman also posted 20 digs, followed by Moon with 14, Kenon with 12 and Brittany Esser with 11. Iman Houston led the Green Wave with seven blocks.
In the first game, LSU used a 4-0 run early in the game on its way to a five-point lead, 10-5. Tulane returned the favor with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 11 all. The Tigers once again stretched out to a four-point lead, 19-15, but with LSU leading 27-24, the Green Wave came back to tie the game at 29 all. After the Tigers fought off a game point, LSU took the first game, 33-31.
In the second game, the Tigers used a 5-0 run midway through to break a 7-7 tie and pull ahead, 12-7. With LSU leading 20-15, the Tigers went on a 10-3 run to close out the game in dominant fashion, 30-18.
With the third game tied at 10 all, Tulane went on a 9-3 run to gain a six-point advantage. The Tigers came back to tied the game at 24 all. After two more ties, LSU had the first of four game points, but could not close out the match. The Green Wave took advantage of their first game point to take the third game, 34-32.
Tulane jumped out to a six-point lead early in the fourth game, 12-6, but the Tigers scored five straight to get to within one, 12-11. The Green Wave came back to take a seven-point advantage, 25-18, but LSU would not go away.
The Tigers got within four points, 29-25, but could get no closer as Tulane sent the match to a fifth game with a 30-25 win.
LSU came out and struck with a 5-0 run to start the fifth game. The Green Wave got back within two, 6-4, before finally tying it up at 11 all. After two more tied scores, the Tigers closed out the match, 15-13, on back-to-back kills by Mikulik and Freeman. LSU improved to 40-16 all-time against Tulane and 21-3 in Baton Rouge. The Tigers have now won four of the last five meetings between the pair, in the most-played rivalry in LSU volleyball history.
LSU def. Tulane 33-31, 30-18, 32-34, 25-30, 15-13
Tulane (17-11, 7-8 C-USA) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Lindsey Norman 22-0-0; Anastasia Kenon 20-0-4; Deva Fowler 17-1-5; Blair Moon 10-0-1; Sarah Weiland 9-1-1; Iman Houston 3-1-7; Brittany Esser 2-0-2; Angela Wiggins 0-1-0; Kelli Dickson 0-0-2; Totals 83-4-12.0. (Assists) – Brittany Esser 43; Kelli Dickson 27. (Dig leaders) – Kelli Dickson 25; Lindsey Norman 20; Blair Moon 14; Anastasia Kenon 12; Brittany Esser 11; Angela Wiggins 9
LSU (17-11, 8-8 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kassi Mikulik 24-0-3; Ivana Kuzmic 13-0-9; Melody Clark 13-0-5; Vanessa Freeman 12-0-3; Regan Hood 11-1-2; Jelena Mijatovic 2-0-1; Daniela Romero 2-0-2; Beth Cowley 1-1-0; Michelle Hensgens 0-1-0; Totals 78-3-15.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 63. (Dig leaders) – Daniela Romero 20; Rachel Pittman 18; Regan Hood 14; Kassi Mikulik 13; Beth Cowley 8
HOUSTON COMES BACK TO DEFEAT ALABAMA, 3-2
BATON ROUGE – Houston rallied back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Alabama, 24-30, 26-30, 33-31, 30-25, 15-7, in the first game of the SEC/C-USA Challenge on Friday at the Maravich Center.
With the win the Cougars improved to 10-21 on the year, while the Crimson Tide fell to 20-9 on the season.
Alabama came out and took the first two games. In the third game, the Crimson Tide had several game points, but could not close out the match. Houston rallied back to stay alive and take the third game. The Cougars then defeated Alabama in the fourth game to send the match to a fifth game. In the final game, Houston dominated the Crimson Tide to take the win.
The Cougars were led by Loure Dews with 22 kills, followed by Kelly McAnelly with 21, Becca Sartori with 18 and Kariny Ritter with 17. Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year Jaci Gonzalez led the match with 43 digs, followed by Ritter with 23, Mirella Vasconcellos with 13, Jennifer Hohl with 13 and McAnelly with 12. Mary Cates, McAnelly and Ritter each paced Houston with three blocks, while Vasconcellos led the Cougars with 53 assists.
Erin Heffner led Alabama with 21 kills, followed by Julie Farley with 13, Crystal Hudson with 12 and Bridget Fuentez with 12. Heffner posted a double-double, leading the Crimson Tide with 28 digs, while Jessica Yearout had 22, Brigette Stack had 20, Kory Tull posted 14 and Megan Hudson recorded 11.
Farley led the match with six blocks for Alabama, while Stack posted 55 assists and Heffner led the match with three service aces.
Houston will take on tournament host LSU on Saturday at 7 p.m., while Alabama will close out play against Tulane on Saturday at 5 p.m. LSU defeated Tulane in five games on Friday, holding off the Green Wave after winning the first two games.