ORLANDO — The 15th-ranked LSU volleyball team completed a three-game sweep of St. John’s, which is receiving votes in the national poll, 30-18, 30-26, 30-22, on Friday afternoon at the Champions Sports Complex in the first match of the SEC/Big East Challenge.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 25-5 on the season and 5-0 against teams receiving votes in the poll. The loss was just the third of the season for the Red Storm, who fell to 30-3 on the year. LSU will complete tournament play on Saturday at 2 p.m. (EST) against Marquette. The Tigers will then await an NCAA postseason big on Sunday afternoon.
“We played well as a team and had a lot of great individual performances,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Our serving was very good and our blocking was solid. To hit .371 as a team speaks well about our ball control. Today was a great all-around performance by the Tigers and we hope to carry that momentum through to tomorrow and into the NCAA Tournament.”
As a team, the Tigers hit an amazing .371 for the match, their highest of the season, while not recording a hitting mark under .353 in any game. LSU recorded 49 kills to only 10 errors with 105 attempts. In addition, the Tigers out blocked St. John’s 11-1, out dug the Red Storm, 43-42 and posted nine service aces compared to just one for St. John’s. St. John’s managed to hit only .165 for the match, recording 44 kills with 24 errors and 121 attempts. Only once in the match did the Red Storm hit over .200.
Freshman Lauren DeGirolamo led the Tigers with 12 kills, while hitting .556 with four blocks. Senior Melody Clark also posted double-figure kills with 11, while leading the match with six blocks. Sophomore Marina Skender led the match with three service aces, followed by sophomore Kyna Washington and senior Kassi Mikulik with two each.
Mikulik tied for the match high with 16 digs, moving her to within two of breaking the LSU single-season record. In addition, Michelle Hensgens posted 10 digs. Senior Daniela Romero posted five digs to move into eight place in single-season digs, only one dig away from becoming just the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 career digs.
Caitlin Rimgaila led St. John’s and the match with 14 kills, the only Red Storm player in double-figures. Kathleen Yee led the match with 16 digs, followed by Patti Hardimon with 13.
To start the match, the Tigers and Red Storm played fairly evenly through the first part of the game one. With LSU leading 17-16, the Tigers went on a 5-0 run as part of a larger 13-2 run that gave LSU the first game. The Tigers got four service aces as part of the longer run, a pair by both Skender and Mikulik.
LSU hit an outstanding .397 in game one, with 17 kills and only two errors, led by six kills by DeGirolamo and five by Romero. In addition, the Tigers posted three blocks and those four aces, with 19 digs. Conversely, St. John’s managed just a .122 hitting percentage, with seven errors and only 12 kills. The Red Storm were held without a block or an ace.
In the second game, the Tigers fell behind early, 9-6, but came back to tie it up at nine all. LSU again saw itself down by three, 15-12, but the Tigers tied it up again at 16. With the score tied at 20, LSU went on a 5-0 run to take the 25-20 advantage and never lost the lead.
The Tigers led by as many as six, 27-21, before Maggie Lonergan came in for her first career action, replacing Romero, who left the match after not feeling well. St. John’s made a small run, but a kill by Clark sent LSU into the locker room with the two-game advantage, 30-26.
The third game started out much like the first, with both teams going back-to-back in score and neither team able to take much of an advantage. With the score tied at 11, the Tigers went on a 3-0 run that sent them ahead 14-11. The Red Storm tied it up again at 15 before taking a two-point lead, 17-15. LSU used tough serving by Skender to make a seven-point swing that gave the Tigers the lead for good. St. John’s was never able to get closer than three as LSU pulled away in the end, 30-22.
The NCAA Tournament selection show will be broadcast live on ESPNews on Sunday between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The Tigers will gather to watch the selection show at Walk-On’s Bistreaux and Bar. The Tigers are looking for back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since making four straight from 1989 to 1992.
No. 15 LSU def. St. John’s, 30-18, 30-26, 30-22
St. John’s (30-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Caitlin Rimgaila 14-0-0; Casie Brooks 8-0-0; Hui Ping Huang 6-0-0; Latoya Blunt 6-0-0; Patti Hardimon 6-0-1; Viola Leszczynska 4-1-1; Kathleen Yee 0-0-0; Ruisa Scheffel 0-0-0; Totals 44-1-1.0. (Assists) – Viola Leszczynska 26. (Dig leaders) – Kathleen Yee 16, Patti Hardimon 13.
No. 15 LSU (25-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Lauren DeGirolamo 12-0-4; Melody Clark 11-0-6; Kyna Washington 8-2-2; Daniela Romero 5-1-4; Marina Skender 4-3-1; Michelle Hensgens 0-1-0; Vanessa Freeman 5-0-1; Maggie Lonergan 0-0-0; Elena Martinez 0-0-0; Kassi Mikulik 0-2-0; Brittnee Cooper 4-0-2; Totals 49-9-11.0. (Assists) – Daniela Romero 38. (Dig leaders) – Kassi Mikulik 16, Michelle Hensgens 10.