BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team opened up the 2006 season with 30-11, 30-24, 28-30, 30-24, win over Rice in the first day of the Tiger Invitational on Friday night in the Maravich Center.
With the win the Tigers improved to 1-0 on the season and will close out the tournament on Saturday with a pair of matches, while the Owls dropped to 0-1 on the year. LSU will take on Nicholls State at 11 a.m. and No. 2 Penn State at 7 p.m. The nationally ranked Nittany Lions defeated the Colonels, 3-0, on Friday afternoon.
As a team, LSU hit a .213 clip with 61 kills for the match. The Tigers posted 67 digs with 11 service aces and 11 blocks. In both the first and third games, LSU recorded hitting percentages over .300, while hitting .265 in game four. In the second game, however, the Tigers hit at a .000 clip. Conversely, Rice recorded 41 kills with a .083 hitting percentage, including 60 digs and three blocks with four aces.
“It was obviously a first match for is,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We really weren’t very smooth and weren’t in a very good flow. We certainly needed to establish ourselves and our style of play better. We were pretty inconsistent in with our pace and inconsistent within our offense. That is something that we have worked very hard on and I’m a little disappointed with that, but the fact that we were still able to succeed attributes to the work ethic and preparation that they put in.”
Sophomore Kyna Washington led the match with 16 kills, while posting 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. She also recorded a match-best four service aces. Sophomore Marina Skender posted 14 kills with 11 digs for what was her first double-double of the season as well.
Freshman middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo had 13 kills and a match-high nine blocks in her first career outing as a Tiger. In addition, she led the match with a .500 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Melody Clark posted 11 kills with two blocks while hitting at a .385 clip.
Senior Kassi Mikulik led the match with 20 digs for the Tigers, while senior Daniela Romero posted 49 kills with 12 digs for her first double-double of the year. Sophomore Vanessa Freeman recorded a career-best seven blocks.
“I thought we had some outstanding play by our middles,” said Flory. “I thought they were very efficient and they did a nice job. I thought Vanessa Freeman did a nice job blocking, but out outsides were less than stellar and certainly not the level that we need them to be to be successful against the top teams in the SEC. We need to create some more offensive opportunities and we need to work a little harder in between contacts throughout the game.”
Tessa Kyukendall led Rice with 10 kills, while Yvette Kirk led the Owls with 13 kills. Karyn Morgan and Rachel Lopez also posted double-figure dig totals with 12 each, while Natalie Bogan led Rice with three blocks.
In the first game, the Tigers went on a stretch run after taking a 7-4 lead. LSU scored 23 of the final 30 points of the match to run away with game one to open the season. With the second game tied at 17, LSU went on a 7-0 run that broke open the game for good. The Owls got within three, 26-23, before the Tigers closed out game two, 30-24.
Despite have its best game statistically; the Tigers fell to Rice in the third game. LSU hit .324 with 20 kills, but the Owls countered with a .393 mark, their only game over .140 for the match, with 14 kills. The pair went back and forth, with the Tigers holding as much as a four point lead, 18-14, before Rice rallied back to tie it at 22 all.
With the score tied at 26, the Owls scored the next two points before LSU got within one, 28-27. With Rice holding game point, 29-27, the Tiger fought off one rally, but could not tie it up as Rice took the game, 30-28.
LSU ran out to a 16-9 lead in the fourth game and never let go of the lead. The Tigers led by as many as 10, 20-10, before Rice got back to within four, 27-23. LSU put the game away with a kill by Washington, 30-24.
Fans are encouraged to wear white to the Penn state game at 7 p.m. as LSU volleyball attempts to “Pack Pete’s Seats” and break the attendance record. The first 200 fans will receive free “Walk on the Wild Side” t-shirts.
LSU def. Rice, 26-30, 30-21, 30-14, 30-21
Rice (0-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Tessa Kyukendall 10-0-0; Karyn Morgan 9-1-9; Jennifer McClean 8-2-0; Rachel Lopez 3-0-1; Jessica May 2-1-0; Ekaette Ibok 1-0-0; Natalie Bogan 3-0-3; Yvette Kirk 0-0-0; Channing Grigsby 0-0-0; Jessie Boulavsky 5-0-2; Totals 41-4-3.0. (Assists) – Rachel Lopez 32. (Dig leaders) – Yvette Kirk 13; Karyn Morgan 12; Rachel Lopez 12.
LSU (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kyna Washington 16-4-0; Marina Skender 14-0-1; Lauren DeGirolamo 13-0-9; Melody Clark 11-1-2; Vanessa Freeman 4-0-7; Daniela Romero 3-3-1; Lauren Leaumont 0-0-0; Elena Martinez 0-1-0; Michelle Hensgens 0-0-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-0-0; Totals 61-11-11.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 49. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 20; Daniela Romero 12; Kyna Washington 11; Marina Skender 11.
In the first game of the 2006 Tiger Invitational volleyball tournament on Friday afternoon, second-ranked Penn State made short work of Nicholls State, sweeping the Colonels by a score of 30-11, 30-15, 30-18, at the Maravich Center.