SAN ANTONIO — The LSU volleyball team continued its winning ways as the Tigers swept tournament host Texas-San Antonio, 30-21, 30-20, 30-25, on Friday afternoon in the Dome Rally at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
With the win, LSU improves to 7-0 on the season, the best start since the 1991 Final Four team began the year 12-0. The Roadrunners dropped to 3-2 on the year, falling in three games for the first time on the season.
“I don’t think we played very well at all today,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “The people we rely on in most of our matches did not have a good day. We did have a good match from our middles.
“We are tired and we just haven’t recovered from all that is going on back at home,” said Flory. “We are mentally fatigued and that has led to us being physically fatigued. We are fortunate to get out of this with a win. I think it was a wake-up call and we will come back tomorrow ready to play.”
Senior Jelena Mijatovic led the match with 12 kills, followed by junior Melody Clark with nine and a trio of Tigers with seven each. Mijatovic also led LSU with eight digs, while junior Kassi Mikulik posted seven. Senior Ivana Kuzmic led the match with a season-best eight blocks, followed by four each by Clark and junior Lauren Leaumont.
As a team, the Tigers dominated in every statistical category, out killing UTSA, 46-34, while hitting at a .270 clip to a .081 mark for the Roadrunners. In addition, LSU recorded 13 blocks to 1 for UTSA and 31 digs to 27 for the Roadrunners.
In the first game, the pair traded points until LSU took the lead for good, 8-7. The Tigers went on back-to-back runs of four points and two points to extend the lead to 15-9. LSU stretched the lead to seven points before the Roadrunners rallied to within five, but the Tigers pulled away to a nine-point win, 30-21.
After LSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead, UTSA rallied back to tie the game at eight all. The Roadrunners stretched the lead to three, 9-12, their largest lead of the match, before the Tigers came back to tie the game at 12. After being tied at 14, LSU took the lead for good 15-14 and outscored UTSA, 15-6 over the end of the game to take a two game advantage, 30-20.
The third game played out in much the same way as the second. After trading points throughout much of the early going, the Roadrunners jumped out to a three-point lead 18-15, before a 10-1 run by the Tigers gave LSU the 25-19 lead. The Tigers went on to take the game and the match, 30-25.
LSU improved to 2-0 all-time against Texas-San Antonio. The Tigers have never dropped a game to the Roadrunners, having swept UTSA, 3-0, in College Station, Texas, in 2002 in a tournament at Texas A&M.
LSU will next take on No. 13 Texas A&M on Saturday at 11 a.m. before closing out the tournament against Rice, which is receiving votes in the poll, on Sunday at 3 p.m.
LSU def. UTSA, 30-21, 30-20, 30-25
LSU (7-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 16-3-5; Melody Clark 8-0-6; Lauren Leaumont 19-1-0; Ivana Kuzmic 9-0-5; Marina Skender 10-4-3; Heather Fierce 0-1-1; Kyna Washington 0-0-1; Elena Martinez 0-0-0; Lacey Galliano 2-0-1; Kassi Mikulik 0-0-0; Daniela Romero 1-0-0; Totals 46-5-13.0. (Assists) – Heather Fierce 24; Daniela Romero 12. (Dig leaders) – Jelena Mijatovic 8, Kassi Mikulik 7, Heather Fierce 5.
UTSA (3-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Meagan Daniel 7-1-0; Jennifer Emelogu 6-0-0; Connie Picard 5-0-1; Julia Hunter 2-0-0; Toni Rocheleau 0-0-0; DeeDee Strickland 0-1-0; Rachel Tilson 2-0-0; Rebecca Hrapmann 0-0-0; Audrey Hiser 0-0-0; Brittany Hildebrand 9-0-0; Victoria Prior 0-0-0; Jackie Strauss 3-0-0; Erin McMillan 0-0-0; Totals 34-2-1.0. (Assists) – DeeDee Strickland 23. (Dig leaders) – Erin McMillan 8, DeeDee Strickland 7, Toni Rocheleau 5.