BATON ROUGE — The 23rd-ranked LSU volleyball team opened the 2007 season with a 30-12, 30-17, 30-28, win over New Orleans in the first day of the Mizuno Tiger Classic on Friday night in the Maravich Center.
With the win the Tigers improved to 1-0 on the season and will close out the tournament on Saturday with a pair of matches, while the Privateers dropped to 0-1 on the year. LSU will take on Louisiana-Monroe at 11 a.m. and Saint Louis at 7 p.m. The Billikens defeated the Warhawks, 3-0, on Friday afternoon.
As a team, LSU opened up with a .303 hitting percentage on 50 kills for the match under the direction of first-year setter Maggie Lonergan. The Tigers started out with a .467 in game one, recording only two errors with 16 kills on 30 attempts. LSU never hit below .200 in the match, with .286 and .205 marks in the second and third games. In addition, the Tigers posted 40 digs, five blocks and seven service aces.
“I think that hitting .300 for any match is good, it’s a solid number,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “However, I was very disappointed in game three. I think that overall for Maggie Lonergan‘s first match to set at LSU, basically a freshman setting for the first time, for us to come out and hit .300 is a pretty nice accomplishment.”
It took until the final game for New Orleans to move into positive numbers hitting. The Privateers finished the match hitting .022 after a match-best .121 mark in the third game. LSU held UNO to a -.138 clip in the first game before the Privateers hit .067 in game two.
Sophomore Lauren DeGirolamo led the match with 12 kills, while hitting a match-best .750, due to an error free performance on 16 attempts. The middle blocker also tied for team high with three blocks, along with four digs. Kyna Washington posted 11 kills and a match-best three service aces along with three digs. Brittnee Cooper was the third Tiger to post double-figures with 10 kills to go with a pair of blocks.
“We know that DeGirolamo is going to be a go-two and her having 12 kills with no errors on 16 attempts is a very nice effort,” said Flory.” I think Cooper did a nice job, although I think she could have been more effective than she was. We weren’t getting her the ball high enough and in the right situations.”
Marina Skender tied DeGirolamo with three blocks for LSU, while recording eight digs and an ace. Junior Elena Martinez led the match with 14 digs in her first career start at the libero position. Freshman Angela Bensend also got her first collegiate start as the Plano, Texas, native recorded nine kills and four digs with a block.
Dobrilla Kovacevic led New Orleans with 10 kills, the only Privateer in double figures. Kaley Hubbard led the match with four blocks, while Nicky Valenti and Nikki May paired up for nine digs each, tying for the team best.
The Tigers dominated in the first game. Holding a 9-6 lead, LSU outscored New Orleans, 14-3, to extend the lead to 23-9. The Privateers managed only three more points in the game as the Tigers went on to win, 30-12, on a kill by DeGirolamo.
The run continued into the second game as LSU pulled ahead 6-1 early on. With the Tigers leading 12-4, New Orleans would get no closer as LSU used another DeGirolamo kill to go into the locker room ahead by two games, 30-17.
The Privateers came out of the locker room and took their first significant lead of the match as New Orleans led by as many as four, 12-8, and again, 14-10. The Tigers came back to tie it up at 19 all as the two teams traded the lead until LSU pulled ahead for good, 27-26. A kill by Washington concluded the game, 30-28.
LSU def. New Orleans, 30-12, 30-17, 30-28
New Orleans (0-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) ? Dobrilla Kovacevic 10-0-0; Lindsey Boler 6-0-1; Lindsey Loyd 4-0-2; Kaley Hubbard 1-0-4; Emily Kelly 1-0-1; Jaci Bayley 0-0-1; Bethany Kern 0-0-0; Lauren Loeffelholz 0-0-0; Cassidy Asebroek 0-2-0; Nicky Valenti 0-0-0; Nikki May 0-2-0; Totals 22-4-5.0. (Assists) ? Jaci Bayley 16. (Dig leaders) ? Nicky Valenti 9, Nikki May 9.
LSU (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) ? Lauren DeGirolamo 12-0-3; Kyna Washington 11-3-0; Brittnee Cooper 10-0-2; Angela Bensend 9-0-1; Marina Skender 8-1-3; Maggie Lonergan 0-2-1; Elena Martinez 0-1-0; Michelle Hensgens 0-0-0; Totals 50-7-5.0. (Assists) ? Maggie Lonergan 38. (Dig leaders) ? Elena Martinez 14.