BATON ROUGE — Playing at home for the first time in 18 matches this season, the LSU volleyball team rallied from a 27-22 deficit in the third game to beat Mississippi State, 30-20, 30-21, 32-30, to start the “Party in Pete’s Palace” on Friday night at the Maravich Center.
In front of the crowd of 1,563, the fifth-largest crowd in Tiger volleyball history, LSU improved to 14-4 overall and 4-3 in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs fell to 10-6 on the season and 1-5 in league play. The Tigers return to action on Sunday at home against Ole Miss, which lost in three games to Arkansas on Friday, at 1:30 p.m.
“I am so pleased that the crowd turned out for the match tonight,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Our team played with emotion, but they kept those emotions in check. We stayed balanced and played within ourselves and I am really proud of them.”
Trailing by five, 27-22, in the third game, LSU used two kills and two aces by Jelena Mijatovic, along with a pair of attacking errors by Mississippi State to even the match at 28 all. The Bulldogs sent it to game point twice, but the Tigers rallied back to tie it both times. LSU earned its first game point at 31-30 on a block by Ivana Kuzmic and Marina Skender before closing out the match on a kill by Skender, 32-30.
“I am proud of the way our team came back in the third game,” said Flory. “We really began to show signs of fatigue and it was vital for us to get out of the match in three games. Our players rallied behind the energy of the crowd and I am really proud of their effort.”
While LSU only out killed Mississippi State, 49-44, the Tigers blew away the Bulldogs in blocking, recording 15 team blocks to only one for Mississippi State. In addition, LSU hit at a .273 team clip, while the Bulldogs managed only a .130 mark. The Tigers also recorded five service aces, including three by Mijatovic, with seven errors to three aces and 10 errors for Mississippi State.
In addition to eight kills, Kuzmic led the match with nine blocks for LSU, while Melody Clark and Skender each posted six blocks. Freshman Kyna Washington led the match with 14 kills and a .400 attacking percentage for the Tigers. Mijatovic and Skender each posted identical double-doubles with 10 kills and 11 digs each.
Junior Daniela Romero recorded a season-best 41 assists along with 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Junior Kassi Mikulik led the Tigers with 12 digs.
Cooper led the Bulldogs with 13 kills, while a pair of MSU players each recorded eight kills. Jamie Joyner and Erin Seago recorded the only block of the match for the Bulldogs. Megan Lukasek led the match with 24 digs for Mississippi State.
LSU improved to 39-6 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 14-4 mark at home. The win snapped a two-match losing streak for the Tigers dating back to 2003, the second longest losing streak against Mississippi State in school history.
LSU def. Mississippi State, 30-20, 30-21, 32-30
Mississippi State (10-6, 1-5 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Rachel Cooper 13-0-0; Orshi Kriegel 8-0-0; Jamie Joyner 7-0-1; Eva Kriegel 5-1-0; Nicole Palazzo 1-0-0; Erin Seago 1-0-1; Andrea Mead 0-2-0; Taylor Noland 1-0-0; Jamie cross 0-0-0; Lialah Putman 0-0-0; Cristina Jucan 8-0-0; Megan Lukasek 0-0-0; Totals 44-3-1.0. (Assists) – Eva Kriegel 26. (Dig leaders) – Megan Lukasek 24, Rachel Cooper 12.
LSU (14-4, 4-3 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kyna Washington 14-0-3; Jelena Mijatovic 10-3-3; Marina Skender 10-0-6; Ivana Kuzmic 8-0-9; Melody Clark 4-0-06; Daniela Romero 3-1-1; Lauren Leaumont 6-1-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-1-0; Totals 49-5-15.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 41. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 12, Jelena Mijatovic 11, Marina Skender 11, Daniela Romero 11.