BATON ROUGE — Tying her career high with 11 blocks to go along with 12 kills, sophomore Brittnee Cooper led the 25th-ranked LSU volleyball team to a season sweep of Ole Miss, 30-27, 30-21, 29-31, 30-19, on Wednesday night at the Maravich Center.
The win moved the Tigers (16-4, 8-3 SEC) back into sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, dropping the Rebels (17-5, 7-4 SEC) to third, one game behind LSU and a half game behind Alabama. The Tigers swept Ole Miss, 3-0, in Oxford in the conference opener and have now won six of the last seven meetings over the Rebels.
“This could have been a critical make or break match for us,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “I don’t know that it made us, but I was very concerned that it could have broken us. I’m really glad it didn’t.”
With her 11 blocks, which included nine block assists and two solo blocks, Cooper tied for the sixth most block assists and seventh most total blocks in a four-game match in school history. It also marked her second career double-double as she posted a .385 clip for the match.
“Cooper gets better every time she steps on the court,” said Flory. “You can’t ask her to do much more than she’s doing. She’s such a physical player and plays so high above the net. She’s kind of our spirit and when she fights through and makes a big play, our team rallies around her. We’ll keep working to get her more involved.”
Junior Elena Martinez moved into fifth place in single-season digs while tying for the third most digs in a four-game match in LSU history with 30, her fourth 30-dig match of the year. Martinez now holds eight of the top 26 single-match dig performances in school history, including the match record for digs in a four-game and five-game match.
Junior Kyna Washington led the match with 19 kills for the Tigers, while adding 16 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Junior Marina Skender posted her eighth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 15 digs. Both Washington and Skender recorded three service aces in the match.
Maggie Lonergan recorded her sixth career double-double with 10 digs and 51 assists. Senior Michelle Hensgens added 14 digs for the match, while sophomore Lauren DeGirolamo had eight blocks and eight kills.
It was a dominating team effort for the Tigers as LSU tied its season high with 19 blocks, compared with only eight for Ole Miss. The Tigers are recorded seven more kills than the Rebels, while limiting Ole Miss to a .056 hitting percentage. In addition, LSU hit at a .208 clip in the match with 92 digs and seven aces, while the Rebels posted 81 digs and four aces.
“It was very important, regardless of outcome, that we establish ourselves again,” said Flory. “I think we played better, but there’s still an edge that we’re missing. We’re not all the way out of the box and willing to risk and just be athletes. There’s an edge that we’re holding back a little bit. We were much more efficient and made many, many fewer unforced errors. We controlled situations and made the key plays. That’s what has been missing the last week and a half or two weeks. I’m really proud of their effort.”
The first game saw 17 ties and six lead changes as it remained tight throughout. Neither team was able to take more than a three-point advantage at any point in the game. With the score tied at 27, the Tigers scored the final three points in three different ways to earn the win, 30-27. Angela Bensend posted a kill to go ahead 28-27, before a block by Cooper and Skender sent it to game point. Washington then recorded her first ace to seal the win.
The second game started out in much the same way as the first with either team able to pull away. At 19-17 in favor of LSU, that changed as the Tigers went on a 6-0 run to take the largest lead of the match, 24-17. Ole Miss never got closer than seven the rest of the way as LSU went into the locker room ahead by two games, 30-21.
Not to be outdone by the first game, game three saw 14 tied scores and five lead changes. Going back and forth much of the way, the Rebels finally took their largest lead of the match, 25-22, before the Tigers clawed their way back. LSU got back to within one, 25-24, but Ole Miss sent it to game point, 29-27. The Tigers got back-to-back blocks, one by DeGirolamo and Bensend and the other by DeGirolamo and Skender, to tie fight off game point twice and tie it up at 29. Unfortunately, the Rebels scored the final two points on back-to-back kills to send it to game four, 31-29.
After playing three close games, the Tigers broke it open in game four. With LSU leading 10-9, the Tigers outscored Ole Miss, 10-4, to stretch their lead to seven. The Rebels pulled back to within five, 21-16, but could get no closer. LSU scored the final three points of the game to take the match handily, 30-19.
The Tigers remain at home to face Arkansas on Friday at 7 p.m. The Lady’Backs are coming off their best weekend of the year, which saw Arkansas defeat then-No. 5 and undefeated Florida at home before sweeping South Carolina. As part of the LSU “Dig for the Cure” campaign, all fans wearing pink will get into the match for FREE and both teams will wear special pink shirts for warm-ups prior to the contest.
Fans are then asked to bring their filled piggy banks from the Alabama match and donate the spare change to breast cancer research. Fans returning their piggy banks will receive free admission and, after making their donation, will get to keep their piggy banks. Those returning the change from their piggy banks will also have a chance to win great prizes throughout the Arkansas match.
The “Dig for the Cure” campaign was originally started in 2003 by Charlotte head coach Lisa Marston, whose mother was a breast cancer survivor, and has spread to volleyball programs across the country in recent years. Last year, the campaign raised over $72,000 nationally.
No. 25 LSU def. Ole Miss, 30-27, 30-21, 29-31, 30-19
Ole Miss (17-5, 7-4 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) ? Katie Kramer 14-0-2; Emily Jones 12-0-3; Jackie Jones 9-0-2; Caitlin Weiss 6-1-2; Caitlin Keefe 5-0-3; Rachel Kieckhaefer 3-0-1; Lauren Moffett 3-0-1; Tara Langley 0-2-0; Jessica Dalke 0-1-0; Totals 52-4-8.0. (Assists) – Rachel Kieckhaefer 35. (Dig leaders) – Tara Langley 28; Rachel Kieckhaefer 13; Caitlin Weiss 8.
LSU (16-4, 8-3 SEC) (Kills-aces-blocks) ? Kyna Washington 19-3-1; Brittnee Cooper 12-0-11; Marina Skender 11-3-5; Lauren DeGirolamo 8-0-8; Angela Bensend 6-0-6; Elena Martinez 2-1-0; Maggie Lonergan 1-0-3; Totals 59-7-19.0. (Assists) – Maggie Lonergan 51. (Dig leaders) – Elena Martinez 30; Kyna Washington 16; Marina Skender 15; Michelle Hensgens 14; Maggie Lonergan 10.