ATLANTA — Off to their best start since 1991 despite the emotional situation in Louisiana and Baton Rouge, the LSU volleyball team defeated Jacksonville State, 30-23, 20-30, 30-22, 30-23, before besting Wright State, 30-21, 27-30., 30-20, 30-25, on Saturday afternoon at the Hanner Fieldhouse to claim the Georgia State Invitational.
With the wins, the Tigers improved to 6-0 on the season, the best start since the NCAA Final Four 1991 team won 12 straight to start the year. Jacksonville State dropped to 1-2 on the season and 1-1 in the tournament, while Wright State fell to 1-4 on the year and 1-2 in tournament play.
“I could not be more proud of a team than I am of this team right now,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We were emotionally spent today, especially in that last match, but they reached inside and pulled through. I think we did a tremendous job fighting off two spirited teams.”
Senior Jelena Mijatovic led the match against Jacksonville State with 24 kills, while posting 21 against Wright State, her third and fourth 20-plus kill matches of the season. She also recorded nine digs and a service ace against JSU and five digs, four blocks and four aces against WSU.
Freshman Kyna Washington posted back-to-back double-figure kill matches with 12 kills against Jacksonville State and a career-best 16 against Wright State. She also recorded a career-best nine digs against the Raiders.
Freshman Marina Skender also recorded in double-figures for the Tigers with 10 kills against the Gamecocks, while tying for the match lead with four service aces. Junior Kassi Mikulik led the team with 15 digs against JSU, while junior Melody Clark led the team with five blocks.
Senior Ivana Kuzmic led the Wright State match with a season-best eight blocks and 14 kills, while Clark had 10 kills and four blocks against the Raiders. Mikulik once again led the team in digs, posting 13 for the Tigers.
“Once again we had some spectacular individual performance,” said Flory. “I think Melody did really well. She was a stabilizing force for us this weekend. Jelena had another great weekend. Marina came in and proved just how deep our roster can be. It makes me really excited about the rest of the season.”
The Gamecocks were led by Suzi Terrell and Abbey Breit with 10 kills each, while Kisha West led the match with 17 digs. Shari Wyer and Rebekah Nichols each led JSU with four blocks.
Sarah Poling and Alisha Kimbro led Wright State with 13 kills each, followed by Jenny Schultz with 10. Kimbro also led the Raiders with 10 digs, while Lizzy Gunn led WSU with four blocks.
In the first game against the Gamecocks, the Tigers pulled ahead, 8-5, before Jacksonville State rallied back with three straight to tie the game. LSU took the lead for good, 9-8, on a kill by Mijatovic. The Gamecocks never got within four the remainder of the game as the Tigers took the 30-23 win.
After being tied three all, Jacksonville State went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead for good in the second game. The Gamecocks extended their lead to 10, 17-7, before the Tigers got back within seven, but could get no closer. Jacksonville State went on to tie the match with a game-two win, 30-20.
In the third game, LSU fell behind by as many as eight points, 17-9. Trailing 19-15, Mijatovic went on a serving run that saw the Tigers take the lead, 23-20, with eight straight points. After trading points, LSU put the game away, 30-22, with six straight points served out by Skender, including a service ace.
In the fourth game, the Tigers fell behind early once again, trailing by as many as six, 12-6, before rallying back to tie the game at 15 all. The Tigers took the lead for good, 16-15, and pulled away over the end of the game, taking the match, 30-23.
In the first game against Wright State, the Tigers jumped out to a 12-5 lead. The Raiders came back to within two, 17-15 and 20-18, before the Tigers went on a 10-3 run to close out game one, 30-21.
With the second game tied at eight all, Wright State went on a 10-2 run to pull ahead by eight. LSU clawed its way back to a four-point game, 21-17, before a run by the Raiders again put them ahead by eight, 27-19. The Tigers then scored eight straight to tie the game at 27 all, but Wright State scored the final three of the game to knot the match, 30-27.
LSU led, 8-7, early in the match before going on a 10-3 run to stretch the lead to an 18-10 lead. The Raiders got back to within four, 18-14, before the Tigers closed out the game with a 12-6 run to take the two games to one lead.
Game four saw LSU take an early three-point and stretch the advantage to as many as five before Wright State battled back to tie it up at 23 all. After the Raiders took their first lead since a 2-1 lead, 24-23, the Tigers tied it up and a five-point serving run by Mijatovic, including three straight service aces, led LSU to the match, 30-25.
The Tigers will next travel to the UTSA Dome Rally at the Alamo Dome next weekend. LSU will face the host Roadrunners on Friday at 1:30 p.m. before taking on Texas A&M on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Rice on Sunday at 3 p.m.
LSU def. Jacksonville State, 30-23, 20-30, 30-22, 30-23
LSU (5-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 24-1-1; Marina Skender 10-4-3; Lauren Leaumont 7-0-1; Melody Clark 7-0-5; Heather Fierce 4-0-1; Ivana Kuzmic 3-0-3; Kyna Washington 12-2-1; Kassi Mikulik 0-1-0; Totals 67-7-8.0. (Assists) – Heather Fierce 48. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 15, Heather Fierce 9, Marina Skender 8.
Jacksonville State (1-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Suzi Terrell 10-0-1; Abbey Breit 10-0-1; Kim Halbach 7-1-1; Shari Weyer 6-0-4; Katie Moyers 1-0-0; Rebekah Nichols 7-1-4; Emily Withers 5-1-2; Kisha West 0-4-0; Jessica Starck 0-0-1; Joi Watts 0-0-0; Abbey Vierling 0-1-0; Totals 45-7-8.0. (Assists) – Emily Withers 35. (Dig leaders) – Kisha West 17, Emily Withers 8, Abbey Breit.
LSU def. Wright State, 30-21, 27-30, 30-20, 30-25
LSU (5-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 21-4-4; Kyna Washington 16-0-5; Ivana Kuzmic 14-0-8; Melody Clark 10-2-5; Marina Skender 8-2-3; Heather Fierce 3-0-0; Lauren Leaumont 1-0-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-2-0; Totals 73-10-15.0. (Assists) – Heather Fierce 58. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 13, Heather Fierce 9, Kyna Washington 9.
Wright State (1-4) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Sarah Poling 13-0-3; Alisha Kimbro 13-2-3; Jenny Schultz 10-1-2; Tara Geegan 8-0-4; Lindsey Frank 2-1-1; Lisa Griffith 0-0-2; Beckie Lowery 0-0-0; Taylor Gerlach 0-0-0; Nicole Scheltema 0-0-0; Lizzy Gunn 3-2-4; Totals 49-6-10.0. (Assists) – Lindsey Frank 41. (Dig leaders) – Alisha Kimbro 10, Taylor Gerlach 9.