STARKVILLE, Miss. — With Mississippi State battling for a position in the Southeastern Conference Tournament in two weeks, the Tigers could not overcome an inspired Bulldog team as the LSU volleyball team fell, 30-27, 27-30, 30-25, 30-25, on Sunday afternoon in the Newell-Grissom Building.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 19-6 on the season and 9-5 in SEC play, while Mississippi State improved to 14-10 overall and 5-9 in league action. LSU is now in tied with Alabama for second place in the SEC West, two games behind Arkansas.
“We simply got outplayed,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “They played harder than us. They made all the big plays.”
For the match, LSU out killed Mississippi State, 65-56, and were close to the Bulldogs in hitting percentage with a .252 clip to a .268 mark for MSU. The pair were tied with 54 digs each, but Mississippi State out blocked the Tigers, 11-6, LSU’s third lowest total of the season. In their first meeting this season, the Tigers posted 15 blocks, while the Bulldogs recorded only one. In addition, LSU was called for six ball-handling errors, the most of the season.
“We allowed the officiating and their pace to dictate the outcome of the match,” Flory said. “We were not able to answer with our pace. We were never able to get into a good rhythm so that we felt comfortable and confident on our side. The fact that we had only six blocks in a four-game match is unacceptable. Our blocking has got to be a factor.”
Once again, LSU had trouble from the serving line. The Tigers committed 17 service errors, the second most on the season, after posting 19 against Ole Miss, which was the most this year. While Mississippi State recorded 14 service errors of its own, the Bulldogs countered with 10 service aces, while LSU posted only four.
“The fact that we had 17 service errors and only four aces, combined with our blocking, those two things alone cost us the match,” said Flory.
Jelena Mijatovic led the match with 17 kills for the Tigers, while also leading LSU with 15 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Marina Skender recorded 16 kills for LSU, followed by 11 by Kyna Washington and 10 by Ivana Kuzmic.
Daniela Romero led the Tigers with 50 assists, while also recording 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the year. Kassi Mikulik also posted 11 digs for LSU. Kuzmic and Melody Clark tied for the team high with three blocks each.
Rachel Cooper posted 16 kills to lead Mississippi State, with 13 digs for a double-double. Orshi Kriegel also recorded a double-double for the Bulldogs with 14 kills and 10 digs. Eva Kriegel also posted double-figures with 12 kills. Megan Lukasek led the match with 18 digs and five service aces for Mississippi State, while Nicole Palazzo led the match with nine blocks.
In the first game, the Tigers fell behind 8-1 before rallying back to tie it at 11 all and taking their first lead 12-11. After eight more tied scores, Mississippi State took the lead for good, 25-24, on a kill. With the Bulldogs holding game point, 29-26, LSU fought it off with a kill by Clark, but Mississippi State took the game on a disputed kill, 30-27.
The pair traded points early in the second game with neither team gaining more than a two-point advantage. After 12 tied scores, the Tigers took the two-point advantage, 17-15, but the Bulldogs tied it up at seven all before taking the lead, 19-18. LSU took the lead for good, 21-20, and led by as many as four, 24-20, but Mississippi Came back to cut the lead to one, 24-23. The Bulldogs fought off one game point before the Tigers tied the match, 30-27, on a service error by MSU.
With the score tied at seven in the third game, Mississippi State went on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good. The Bulldogs led by as many as seven, 27-20, before LSU used a 4-0 run to cut it to three. Mississippi State went on to score three of the last four points to take the game, 30-25.
The Bulldogs took an early led in the fourth game, 11-5, but the Tigers fought back to tie it up at 13 all. After it was tied at 15 all, Mississippi State took the lead for good. The Bulldogs pulled out to a three-point lead, 22-19, before LSU cut it to one, 25-24, but Mississippi State scored five of the final six points to win, 30-25.
LSU fell to 39-7 all-time against the Bulldogs, including an 18-2 mark in Starkville. The loss gave Mississippi State three wins over the Tigers in the last four meetings.
LSU returns home to close out the regular season next week. The Tigers will take on SEC Western Division leader Arkansas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before facing Kentucky on Friday at 7 p.m. for Senior night.
Mississippi State def. LSU, 30-27, 27-30, 30-25, 30-25
LSU (19-6, 9-5 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Jelena Mijatovic 17-0-2; Marina Skender 16-0-1; Kyna Washington 11-0-1; Ivana Kuzmic 10-0-3; Melody Clark 6-1-3; Daniela Romero 5-2-0; Lauren Leaumont 0-1-0; Vanessa Freeman 0-0-0; Heather Fierce 0-0-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-0-0; Totals 65-4-6.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 50. (Dig leaders) – Jelena Mijatovic 15, Kassi Mikulik 11, Daniela Romero 11.
Mississippi State (14-10, 5-9 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Rachel Cooper 16-0-6; Orshi Kriegel 14-0-2; Eva Kriegel 12-0-0; Erin Seago 5-0-2; Nicole Palazzo 3-0-9; Andrea Mead 0-2-0; Jamie Cross 0-3-0; Jamie Joyner 6-0-2; Megan Lukasek 0-5-0; Totals 56-10-11.0. (Assists) – Andrea Mead 29, Eva Kriegel 18. (Dig leaders) – Megan Lukasek 18, Rachel Cooper 13, Orshi Kriegel 10.