BATON ROUGE — The 12th-ranked LSU volleyball team earned the season sweep over Kentucky with a three-game win over the Wildcats, 30-27, 30-27, 30-25, on Friday night at the Maravich Center, moving into first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
With the win, the Tigers are now 17-3 overall and 9-2 in SEC play. Kentucky dropped to 12-7 for the season and 5-6 in conference action. LSU finished the season series 2-0 against the Wildcats after winning 3-1 earlier in the year in Lexington, the first win for the Tigers in Memorial Coliseum since 1999.
With the win by LSU, coupled with a three-game loss by Alabama at Ole Miss, the Tigers moved into sole possession of first place in the SEC West. LSU now holds a one-game lead over the Crimson Tide, while trailing Florida by one game in the overall SEC.
“This was just a very, very solid performance by our team,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We challenged them to bounce back after losing at Florida. We worked really hard in practice this week and we found a new intensity level and a new level of execution.”
Marina Skender led the match with 17 kills and a team-best 16 digs for the Tigers, her 11th double-double of the season, while hitting at a .364 clip. Kyna Washington followed with 16 kills and eight digs, while Melody Clark posted 12 kills and a .429 hitting percentage.
Kassi Mikulik and Daniela Romero also recorded double-figures in digs for LSU with 12 and 11 respectively. Romero had her seventh match with 50 or more assists, posting 51 for the match, for her team-best 12th double-double of the year. Lauren DeGirolamo led the match with seven blocks, followed by Vanessa Freeman with three.
Ashlee Fisher led Kentucky with 12 kills, the only Wildcat in double-figures for the match. Jenni Casper led the match with 19 digs, also the only Kentucky player in double-figure. Nicole Britenriker led the Wildcats with two blocks for the match.
As a team, the Tigers hit at a .302 clip, the fifth-highest hitting percentage of the season for LSU and the best since posting a season-high .369 mark against Wake Forest on Sept. 9. The Tigers recorded 61 kills with only 19 errors for the match. Conversely, Kentucky finished with only 42 kills and 21 errors to post a .162 hitting percentage, the 16th team LSU has held below .200 this season.
“We changed some things in our offense and they were very effective,” said Flory. “Dee Romero did an incredible job of picking the right sets in the right situation and putting our hitters in a position to be successful. I think this was one of her best performances and you can tell that by our hitting percentage. We haven’t hit .302 in a while.”
Defensively, the Tigers posted 67 digs, out digging the defensive-minded Wildcats by 15, who finished with 52. LSU also out blocked Kentucky, 8-2, for the match.
“I think the one factor that stood out for me the most is that Kentucky is traditionally the best defensive team in the league and we out dug them significantly,” said Flory. “Those are the effort stats that I’m really proud of. I’m really proud of how hard we fought and the level of intensity we maintained throughout this match.”
In the first game, the Tigers stormed out the gate to an early lead, 14-8. With LSU leading 18-13, the Wildcats went on a 3-0 run that cut the lead to three. Kentucky then got as close as two, 22-20, before the Tigers pulled away, 28-22. The Wildcats would not go away, fighting for four-straight points to get back to within two, 28-26. On game point, LSU got a kill from Skender to give them game one, 30-27.
The second game was much different in that it saw 11 tied scores and five lead changes. The Tigers led by three, 14-11, before Kentucky came back to tie it up at 15 all and take a five-point lead of its own, 22-17. After a 6-1 run, LSU tied it up at 23, but the Wildcats would not let the Tigers take the lead. Kentucky retook the lead, 26-24, before LSU tied it up at 26. With the score tied at 27, the Tigers scored the final three points of the game to go into the locker room with the two-game lead, 30-27.
The third game unfolded in much the same way as game one. LSU pulled ahead 7-1 out of the gate and led by as many as nine, 16-7, before the Wildcats started their comeback. Kentucky clawed back to within two, 24-22, after three-straight attack errors by the Tigers, but LSU would not surrender. The Tigers scored two-straight to take a four-point lead as they never let the Wildcats get within four the rest of the way, earning the match sweep on a kill by Skender, 30-25.
Both the LSU soccer and volleyball will have crucial television matches on Sunday. Fans with tickets to either the volleyball or soccer games are encouraged to use those ticket stubs to attend the other event for FREE.
The Tiger soccer team gets things kicked off as LSU hosts No. 12 Florida, which leads the SEC, at noon at the LSU Soccer Complex. The first 250 fans will receive free soccer keychains at the game, which will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
Following the soccer game, fans are encouraged to go to the Maravich Center for the Tiger volleyball team’s match at 3:30 p.m. against No. 25 Tennessee, which lost in four at Arkansas on Friday. Prior to the match, inflatables will be available for children as volleyball celebrates “Mike the Tiger’s Birthday”. Pictures with Mike the mascot and a Mike the Tiger cake will help fans celebrate the occasion.
Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts can get into the match free with “Advocate” tickets by showing up at the PMAC ticket office in their Scout uniforms. Scout volleyball badges will help fans celebrate the occasion. The match will be televised on SEC-TV in Baton Rouge on Fox Sports Southwest on cable channel 38.
No. 12 LSU def. Kentucky, 30-27, 30-27, 30-25
Kentucky (12-7, 5-6 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Ashlee Fisher 12-1-0; Nicole Britenriker 8-0-2; Melissa Popp 5-0-0; Sarah Rumely 3-0-1; Julie Gagnon 0-0-0; BriAnne Sauer 0-0-0; Heather Hausfeld 6-0-1; Tess Edwards 5-0-0; Natalie Marsh 1-0-0; Jenni Casper 0-1-0; Queen Nzenwa 3-0-0; Totals 43-2-4.0. (Assists) – Sarah Rumely 38. (Dig leaders) – Jenni Casper 19.
No. 12 LSU (17-3, 9-2 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Marina Skender 17-1-1; Kyna Washington 16-2-2; Melody Clark 12-0-1; Vanessa Freeman 7-0-3; Daniela Romero 5-1-1; Lauren DeGirolamo 4-0-7; Elena Martinez 0-0-0; Michelle Hensgens 0-1-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-0-0; Totals 61-5-8.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 51. (Dig leaders) – Marina Skender 16, Kassi Mikulik 12, Daniela Romero 11.