OXFORD, Miss. — The 11th-ranked LSU volleyball team fell to Ole Miss, 23-30, 30-24, 24-30, 30-25, 15-8, on Sunday afternoon at the Gillom Sports Center to close out Southeastern Conference play.
The SEC Western Division champion Tigers fell to 24-5 on the season and 16-4 in league play. The Lady Rebels improved to 19-12 and 10-10 in conference play. The pair split the season series after LSU swept Ole Miss in Baton Rouge earlier in the season.
As a team, the Tigers out killed the Lady Rebels, 68-67, and out blocked Ole Miss, 15.0-8.0, but the difference in the match was in efficiency, especially at crucial times late in games four and five. The Lady Rebels out hit LSU, .216-.199, as the Tigers committed three more errors than Ole Miss on six more attempts for the match. In addition, the Lady Rebels out hit LSU, .279-.233 in game four and .273-.000 in game five.
“I think Ole Miss outplayed us,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “The bottom line is they made every play they needed to make to win the match. Everything they touched turned into a positive for them and we couldn’t over come that. It was a disappointing loss for us, but one we will learn from and probably and a good time for us to learn from it.”
Freshman Lauren DeGirolamo and sophomore Marina Skender led the Tigers with 17 kills each, which was a career-best for DeGirolamo. Senior Melody Clark followed with 13 and junior Vanessa Freeman finished with 10. In addition, DeGirolamo posted a match-high .406 hitting percentage, while Skender finished at .310, the third best in the match.
“Our middles did a nice job for us with Melody and Lauren,” said Flory. “Marina also did a very nice job, but we need to be more balanced and unfortunately we weren’t tonight.”
Senior Kassi Mikulik led LSU with 19 digs, moving her into third place in career digs in school history. She is also just 18 digs away from breaking the school single-season digs record. Skender finished with a double-double by adding 14 digs, followed by Kyna Washington and Daniela Romero with 10 each. Romero also moved into eighth place in single-season assists in school history during the match.
Clark led the Tigers and tied her season best with eight blocks, moving her into ninth place in career blocks in LSU history and ninth in career block assists. DeGirolamo recorded seven blocks in the match, while Washington and Romero each finished with five.
Jaclyn Toohey led Ole Miss and the match with 25 kills, followed by Katie Kramer with 19. Tara Langley led the match with 28 digs, followed by Rachel Kieckhaefer with 12. Lauren Moffett led the Lady Rebels with five blocks. In addition, Ole Miss recorded eight service aces for the match, tying the most allowed by LSU this season, the best receiving team in the league.
In the first game, the Tigers ran out to a 5-2 lead early. Ole Miss came back to tie it up at nine, but LSU never fell behind. The Tigers went on a 7-1 run to pull ahead by six, 16-10. The Lady Rebels fought back to within three, 17-14, but could get no closer. LSU pulled away from that point, scoring 13 of the final 22 points to earn the game one win, 30-23.
For the game, the Tigers got seven of their 15 kills from DeGirolamo, who also posted a .700 hitting percentage. Four blocks by Clark also helped the LSU cause, along with a pair of service aces – one by Skender and one by Washington.
Ole Miss took the 2-1 lead in the first game and never trailed from that point on. The Lady Rebels led, 7-4, before the Tigers came back to tie it up at 10. After a tie at 11, Ole Miss took the lead for good, 12-13. The Lady Rebels pulled out to a six-point lead, 25-19, but LSU got it back to four, 26-22. A 3-0 run by Ole Miss gave them game point, but the Tigers would not go away quietly, fighting off a pair before the Lady Rebels closed it out, 30-24.
LSU pulled out to a 7-3 lead in game three and never trailed. The Tigers extended the advantage to six, 13-7, before Ole Miss cut it to four, 14-10. With LSU leading by five, 22-17, the Tigers scored two straight to give them the seven point lead. LSU sent it to game point, 29-21, but the Lady Rebels scored three straight before a kill by Freeman gave the Tigers the win, 30-24.
In the fourth game, LSU pulled out to a 5-3 lead before Ole Miss tied it up at five. After ties at six and 10, the Lady Rebels took their first lead of the game, 11-10. Ole Miss led, 15-12, before the Tigers came back to cut it to one, 15-14. The Lady Rebels again stretched their lead to as many as four, 20-16. LSU got as close as two, 26-24, but could get no closer as Ole Miss sent it to game five, 30-25.
The Tigers took an early lead in the fifth game, 4-2, but it wasn’t to last. The Lady Rebels came back to tie it at four before taking the 6-4 lead as part of a 4-0 run. With Ole Miss leading 8-6, the Lady Rebels scored six straight points to send it to match point, 14-6. LSU was able to fight off back-to-back match points with blocks by DeGirolamo and Washington, but Ole Miss won the match on a kill, 15-8.
The Tigers will conclude the 2006 regular season in Orlando on Thanksgiving Weekend in the SEC/Big East Challenge. LSU will face Marquette on Friday at 2 p.m. (EST), before facing No. 24 St. John’s on Saturday at 2 p.m. (EST). The Tigers will then await an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The selection show will air live on ESPNews at 1:30 p.m.
Ole Miss def. No. 11 LSU, 23-30, 30-24, 24-30, 30-25, 15-8
No. 11 LSU (24-5, 16-4 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Lauren DeGirolamo 17-0-7; Marina Skender 17-2-2; Melody Clark 13-0-8; Vanessa Freeman 10-0-2; Kyna Washington 8-1-5; Daniela Romero 3-0-5; Lauren Leaumont 0-1-0; Elena Martinez 0-0-0; Michelle Hensgens 0-1-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-1-0; Totals 68-6-15.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 54. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 19, Marina Skender 14, Daniela Romero 10, Kyna Washington 10.
Ole Miss (19-12, 10-10 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Katie Kramer 19-0-2; Kristen Carroll 9-2-4; Emily Jones 7-0-1; Lauren Moffett 4-1-5; Rachel Kieckhaefer 3-0-0; Nicole Mahan 0-2-0; Jaclyn Toohey 25-0-2; Allison Weber 0-1-0; Christine Marchinski 0-0-0; Tara Langley 0-2-0; Totals 67-8-8.0. (Assists) – Rachel Kieckhaefer 60. (Dig leaders) – Tara Langley 28, Rachel Kieckhaefer 12.