BATON ROUGE — The 13th-ranked LSU volleyball team earned a hard fought three-game sweep over South Carolina, 30-25, 33-31, 30-28, on Friday evening at the Maravich Center to open Southeastern Conference play at home and extend the Tigers’ winning streak to nine matches.
The win, which was the 250th of head coach Fran Flory‘s career, also improved LSU’s overall record to 11-1 on the season as the Tigers remained perfect at 3-0 in SEC play. The Gamecocks fell to 9-4 on the season and dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten in the league at 2-1.
As a team, the Tigers recorded 55 digs, compared to just 44 for the Gamecocks, and out hit USC, .204 to .177. Defensively, South Carolina out blocked LSU, 10-9, marking just the third time all season LSU has been out blocked. In addition, the Gamecocks posted 50 digs to just 46 for the Tigers, which was just the second time all year that LSU had been out dug.
“This was a very, very tough match,” said Flory. “It was a grind and neither team could fully get in control of any aspect. I think the bottom line was at the end of the match we had more kills than they did and that’s the determining factor.
“We got out blocked and we got out dug and that hasn’t happened very often this season and that’s a little disappointing. That is a tribute to their athleticism and their speed on defense. They played very well defensively. We did not side out at a very high percentage. We did not attack and they backed us off. Their game plan worked against us in a lot of ways. We were resilient and stayed tough.”
With her fifth dig of the match, senior Kassi Mikulik became the seventh player in LSU history to record 1,000 career digs. The libero from Flatonia, Texas led the match with 14 digs, posting her 12th double-figure dig match of the season in 12 matches.
Sophomore Kyna Washington led the match with 15 kills, including nine in the first game. Freshman Lauren DeGirolamo posted 10 kills, while Marina Skender and Melody Clark each recorded 10. Eight of Skender’s 10 kills came in the final game of the match.
DeGirolamo led the Tigers with five blocks, while Clark and Daniela Romero each recorded five blocks each. Romero posted a team-best 40 assists, while recording nine digs.
“After a slow start Marina really came around when we needed her,” said Flory. “I thought our middles did a nice job. They did what we asked them to do. Kyna did a nice job early and kind of got into some bad situations late, but Marina rallying in the end was huge. Kassi handled our ball control and took over the first contact and was huge.”
The nation’s leader in kills, Shonda Cole of South Carolina, was held to just 13 kills, while Belita Salters posted 11 for the Gamecocks. Ivana Kujundzic led the match with six blocks, while Alexcis Thomson led South Carolina with 11 digs.
In the first game with the Tigers leading 17-16, LSU went on an 8-3 run to take the 25-19 advantage. South Carolina got within four, but could get no closer as the Tigers closed out the first game with a kill by Washington.
LSU trailed late in the second game, 26-22, but came back to tie it up at 27 all. The Gamecocks then scored two straight to have their first game point, but the Tigers held them off with kills by DeGirolamo and Washington.
A block by DeGirolamo and Washington gave LSU its first game point, but South Carolina tied it up at 31. The Tigers then got a block from DeGirolamo and Vanessa Freeman to post their second game point and this time they converted as LSU benefited from an attacking error by the Gamecocks.
The third game saw 11 ties and five lead chances. Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage and with the score tied at 26, the Tigers were finally able to take the lead for good. With LSU leading 29-28, an attacking error by South Carolina sealed the game and the match for the Tigers, 30-28.
LSU remains at home to face Georgia on Sunday for “Family Day”. The Tigers will face the Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m. The match will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. Families will be treated to inflatables for the kids and family festivities throughout the match. The first 100 fans will receive free LSU volleyball lunch sacks.
No. 13 LSU def. South Carolina, 30-25, 33-31, 30-28
No. 13 LSU (10-1, 3-0 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Kyna Washington 15-1-3; Lauren DeGirolamo 11-0-5; Marina Skender 10-1-0; Melody Clark 10-0-4; Vanessa Freeman 5-0-1; Daniela Romero 4-1-4; Lauren Leaumont 0-1-0; Michelle Hensgens 0-1-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-1-0; Totals 55-6-9.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 40. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 14.
South Carolina (9-5, 2-1 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Shonda Cole 13-0-5; Belita Salters 11-0-4; Marija Milosevic 7-0-1; Ivana Kujundzic 6-0-6; Lynae Vanden Hull 4-0-1; Iris Santos 3-0-3; Crystal Johnson 0-0-0; Sarah Cline 0-0-0; Alexcis Thomson 0-0-0; Dinelia Concepcion 0-0-0; Meredith Moorhead 0-0-0; Totals 44-0-10.0. (Assists) – Iris Santos 38. (Dig leaders) – Alexcis Thomson 11.