OXFORD, Miss. — Led by a pair of 20-plus kill performances, the LSU volleyball team topped Ole Miss in five games, 31-29, 28-30, 30-22, 24-30, 15-9, in Southeastern Conference play on Friday night at the Gillom Sports Center.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 19-5 overall and 9-4 in league play. The loss dropped the Rebels to 7-19 on the season and 1-12 in conference action. LSU completed the two-match sweep of Ole Miss this season, after having swept the match in Baton Rouge earlier in the year.
“We did a very good job of fighting off a very feisty, very inspired Ole Miss team,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Our offense was very efficient but our defense was not really good, but we came up with the big plays when we needed them.”
Freshman Marina Skender posted a career-best with 22 kills, while also hitting at a .439 clip with four service aces for the match. Senior Jelena Mijatovic recorded her ninth 20-plus kill match of the season with 20 kills and posted a double-double with 11 digs.
Senior Ivana Kuzmic led the match with eight blocks, while also posting nine kills and a match-best .562 hitting percentage. Freshman Kyna Washington led the match with a career-best 22 digs along with 12 kills for her fourth double-double of the season. Junior Daniela Romero was three assists from her career high with 64, while junior Kassi Mikulik posted 11 digs for the Tigers.
“I am really proud of Kyna Washington and her defensive effort,” said Flory. “Jelena on the outside and Marina on the right side did a great job. Basically they controlled the part of the match that we thought we needed to control and that was our middles. Our middles were not as efficient as we needed them to be, but our outsides did a great job.”
Jaclyn Toohey led the match with 25 kills for Ole Miss, followed by 23 from Nikki Hill. Nicole Mahan led the Rebels with 16 digs, while Kristen Carroll posted 14. Tricia Agee led Ole Miss with four blocks and Ashleigh Shear posted 60 assists to lead the Rebels.
For the match, LSU out killed Ole Miss 72-65, and posted a .295 hitting percentage to a .207 mark for the Rebels. The Tigers out blocked Ole Miss 15-5, while LSU recorded 63 digs to 64 for the Rebels. Unfortunately, the Tigers committed a season-worst 19 service errors while posting nine service aces, compared to 13 service errors and eight aces for Ole Miss.
“I was really disappointed in our serving,” said Flory. “We are really going to have to address that in the next day or two so that we can get ready for Mississippi State.”
In the first game, Ole Miss came out and took the early momentum, leading by as many as seven, 15-8, and again at 21-14. The Tigers clawed back to within three, 22-19, and forced the Rebels to call their first timeout. Ole Miss extended its lead to four, 24-20, but LSU would not go away, chipping away at the Rebel lead until eventually tying it up at 27 all. The Tigers held the first game point at 29-28 but a kill by Ole Miss kept the Rebels alive. With LSU leading 30-29, a block by Kuzmic and Skender gave the Tigers the game, 31-29.
The Tigers fell behind again in game two, trailing by as many as four early, 8-4, before tying it up at eight all. LSU led by as many as two, 17-15, but could not hold the lead as Ole Miss tied it up at 17 all. After three more ties, the Rebels took the lead for good at 26-25 and went on to even the match, 30-28.
LSU came out in the third game and took control early and never let go. The Tigers began with a 4-0 run and led by as many as 10, 24-14. LSU went on to take the game, 30-22, while hitting at a .425 clip compared to a .200 mark for Ole Miss.
In the fourth game, the Tigers and Rebels played together most of the way. Neither team gained more than a two-point lead until Ole Miss gained a 20-17 advantage late in the game. LSU came back to cut the lead to one on several occasions, but could never tie it up as a late Rebel run gave Ole Miss the game, 30-24, and sent the match to five games.
The Tigers took control in the fifth game and would not be denied. LSU led 7-2 and Ole Miss would never again get closer than four as the Tigers sealed the match, 15-9.
LSU returns to action again on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against Mississippi State. The Tigers swept the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge earlier this season. Mississippi State took Arkansas to five games on Friday night in Starkville.
LSU def. Ole Miss, 31-29, 28-30, 30-22, 24-30, 15-9
LSU (19-5, 9-4 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Marina Skender 22-4-6; Jelena Mijatovic 20-1-2; Kyna Washington 12-2-1; Ivana Kuzmic 9-0-8; Melody Clark 5-0-6;Daniela Romero 4-0-4; Lauren Leaumont 0-0-0; Heather Fierce 0-0-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-2-0; Totals 72-9-15.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 64. (Dig leaders) – Kyna Washington 22, Kassi Mikulik 11, Jelena Mijatovic 11.
Ole Miss (7-19, 1-12 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jaclyn Toohey 25-0-0; Emily Jones 8-0-0; Kristen Carroll 4-4-1; Tricia Agee 3-0-4; Ashleigh Shear 1-0-1; Christine Marchinski 1-2-0; Nikki Hill 23-0-2; Allison Weber 0-0-0; Nicole Mahan 0-2-0; Totals 65-8-5.0. (Assists) – Ashleigh Shear 60. (Dig leaders) – Nicole Mahan 16, Kristen Carroll 14.