DAYTON, Ohio — After dropping the first game, the 22nd-ranked LSU volleyball team rallied back to take the next three games and defeat Dayton, 25-30, 30-21, 30-22, 30-26, on Friday night at the Frericks Center as part of the Marriott Invitational.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 6-1 on the season, having now won four straight matches. The Flyers, which are receiving votes in the national polls, have now dropped two straight decisions to nationally ranked competition, and fell to 5-3 on the year.
A strong serving strategy gave Dayton the early lead in the match, but LSU adjusted and came back. The Tigers trailed by as many as eight in the first game, but only lost by five. LSU dominated through most of the second and third games to take the two-game lead. In the fourth game, the Tigers fell behind by six to start before coming back to tie it up and eventually take the game and the match.
“This was definitely a battle tonight,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “This was a difficult match to play and we are certainly fortunate to come out with a win. Dayton is a very good team and they kept us off balance all night and we did the same against them. It was a matter of who was going to persevere and we knew that going into it. It was exactly the type of match we expected, but maybe even a little bit tougher.”
Freshman Lauren DeGirolamo led the match with 16 kills, while Marina Skender provided 13, Kyna Washington had 12 and Vanessa Freeman had 11. Mikulik led the Tigers behind the service line with three of LSU’s seven service aces.
“I was kind of disappointed in our offense,” said Flory. “We weren’t very efficient. We made a bunch of hitting errors that we don’t typically make but I thought that Dee Romero did a great job of balancing us and giving us opportunities to put the ball away. We have got to be better tomorrow.”
Romero led LSU with 18 digs, along with her 54 assists for a double-double. Kassi Mikulik and Elena Martinez each posted 15 digs, followed by Lauren Leaumont with 12 and Skender with 10. DeGirolamo also led the match with eight blocks, followed by Melody Clark with six and Freeman with four.
“Our defense stepped up, especially our back court defense, and we dug a lot of balls,” said Flory. “We took them out of what they wanted to do with our serving strategy. Certainly out blocking them 10-7.5 was a huge factor.”
Dayton was led by Faye Barhorst with 14 kills, while Nicole Bateman provided 11. Bateman led the match with 20 kills, while Adrienne Green recorded 16. The Flyers were led by Robynne Green with six blocks.
In the first game, LSU fell behind 9-1 behind the short serving of Dayton, which threw the Tigers out of their offense. LSU regrouped and slowly chipped away at the Flyers lead before tying it up at 23 all. The Tigers, however, could never quite get the momentum to take the lead as Dayton retook the lead and never relinquished it again, earning the game one win, 30-25.
LSU rebounded in the second game after hitting .059, to post a .350 hitting percentage, and a much different result. The Tigers jumped out to an 8-4 lead, before stretching the lead to 13-8. The Flyers got within two, 19-17, but LSU went on a closing run that put the game away. The Tigers scored 11 of the final 15 points to even the match, 30-21.
It was much of the same for LSU in the third game. The Tigers posted a .324 hitting percentage with 17 kills and once again topped Dayton. The Flyers took the 7-5 lead, but LSU came back to tie it up at eight all. After two more ties, the Tigers took the lead for good at 12-11. With LSU leading, 15-14, a 4-0 run gave the Tigers all the breathing room they would need as LSU pulled away for the win, 30-22.
Game four started much like game one, much to the chagrin of the Tigers. LSU fell behind, 7-1, before mounting a comeback. The Tigers got within one, 11-10, but Dayton pulled ahead again, 16-12. LSU finally got it tied up at 19 all and took its first lead, 20-19. The game would be tied six more times until the Tigers closed it out with a 4-0 run to end it on a service ace by Mikulik, 30-26.
LSU will now take on Indiana at noon (CT) on Saturday, before closing out the tournament against Wake Forest at 4 p.m. (CT). The Hoosiers were five-game winners over the Demon Deacons in the tournament’s opening match on Friday.
No. 22 LSU def. Dayton, 25-30, 30-21, 30-22, 30-26
No. 22 LSU (6-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Lauren DeGirolamo 16-0-8; Marina Skender 13-2-3; Kyna Washington 12-0-3; Vanessa Freeman 11-0-4; Melody Clark 9-0-6; Daniela Romero 6-0-3; Lauren Leaumont 0-0-0; Elena Martinez 1-2-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-3-0; Totals 68-7-14.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 54. (Dig leaders) – Daniela Romero 18, Kassi Mikulik 15; Elena Martinez 15, Lauren Leaumont 12, Marina Skender 10.
Dayton (5-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Faye Barhorst 14-0-1; Nicole Bateman 11-0-0; Robynne Green 9-0-6; Chauntay Mickens 9-0-4; Erin Schroeder 4-1-2; Chelsy Christoff 1-0-0; Adrienne Green 0-0-0; Bethany Akerhielm 2-0-1; Jamie-Lee Richards 3-0-0; Mandy Robbe 0-0-1;Lauren Markowski 0-0-0 ; Totals 53-1-7.5. (Assists) – Erin Schroeder 36. (Dig leaders) – Nicole Bateman 20, Adrienne Green 16.