SAN ANTONIO — The LSU volleyball team bounced back from a tough loss to No. 13 Texas A&M to sweep Rice, which is receiving votes in the national poll, 32-30, 30-17, 30-20, on Sunday afternoon at the Alamodome to close out play in the UTSA Dome Rally.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in tournament action. The Owls dropped to 6-2 on the season and 2-1 in tournament play. With the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Sugar Bowl Classic scheduled for next weekend was cancelled. The Tigers are still awaiting word on what their plans will be next weekend as they still continue to work out details for matches.
“I am proud of the way this team responded after the loss yesterday,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We did some good things out there today.”
Senior Jelena Mijatovic was named to the Dome Rally all-tournament team, despite not having one of her best performances against Rice. The outside hitter averaged four kills a game with four blocks, 25 digs and eight service aces in 11 games for the Tigers.
“This tournament was a great measuring stick for this team,” said Flory. “It showed us some of the areas that we need to improve upon, but it also showed us how we match up against nationally ranked teams, and that is a positive match-up. I think we opened up some people’s eyes this weekend that we are a solid team that will be in contention at the end of the season.”
LSU freshman Kyna Washington tied for the match lead with 10 kills and four service aces, while junior Melody Clark also posted 10 kills with five blocks. Senior Ivana Kuzmic recorded a match-best eight blocks, which gave her a 2.36 blocks per game average for the tournament.
Freshman Marina Skender recorded eight kills and a career-best seven blocks. Junior Kassi Mikulik led the match with 16 kills for the Tigers and also posted three aces. Freshman Heather Fierce led the team with 24 assists, followed by Daniela Romero with 15, as they pair split time at the setter position.
In game one, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start and led 7-2 before Rice got things going. The Owls tied the game at 13 all and took the lead 15-14. Rice led by as many as five, 25-20, and took the match to game point, 29-26, but LSU would not go down.
The Tigers fought off three game points to tie the score at 29 all and eventually took the lead 30-29. After the Owls fought off one game point, LSU took the first game on a kill by Kuzmic and a block by Clark and Mijatovic, 32-30.
In the second game, the Tigers took the early lead and never looked back. With Rice trailing by two, 15-13, LSU went on a 15-4 run to close out the game and take a two-game lead into the locker room, 30-17. After hitting just .083 in the first game, the Tigers improved to a .432 mark in game two, committing just one error.
LSU erupted to start the third game as well, beginning on a 6-0 run before extending the lead to 9-1. The Owls got back to within three, 15-12, but the Tigers went on 15-8 run to close out the game and the match, 30-20.
LSU def. Rice, 32-30, 30-17, 30-20
LSU (8-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kyna Washington 10-4-1; Melody Clark 10-0-5; Ivana Kuzmic 8-0-8; Marina Skender 8-0-7; Jelena Mijatovic 7-1-1; Heather Fierce 0-0-0; Lauren Leaumont 0-1-0; Vanessa Freeman 4-0-2; Kassi Mikulik 0-3-0; Daniela Romero 0-0-0; Totals 47-9-13.0. (Assists) – Heather Fierce 24, Daniela Romero 15. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 17, Heather Fierce 9, Daniela Romero 8.
Rice (6-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Karyn Morgan 8-0-0; Olaya Pazo 6-0-2; Tessa Kuykendall 5-0-2; Kristina Hoban 4-1-0; Jessica Holderness 4-0-3; Kristina Dennemann 2-0-0; Yvette Kirk 0-0-0; Rachel Lopez 0-0-3; Totals 29-1-5.0. (Assists) -Kristina Hoban 22. (Dig leaders) – Yvette Kirk 9, Kristina Hoban 7.