FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU volleyball team clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference Western Division title for the fourth consecutive season Friday night with a dominant sweep of Arkansas, 25-13, 25-17, 25-9, at Barnhill Arena.
LSU improved to 16-9 overall and 11-7 in SEC play while the Razorbacks fell to 7-21 overall and 4-13 in the conference. LSU entered the match with a two-game lead over Ole Miss and Alabama in the SEC West with three matches to play. Alabama fell at South Carolina, and Ole Miss pulled out a five-set victory over Georgia. Should the Tigers beat Ole Miss on Sunday, LSU will be outright SEC West champions.
Against Arkansas the Tigers put on an offensive show by smashing 44 kills with a season-high .434 attack percentage led by Brittnee Cooper‘s 10 kills on 14 attempts for an incredible career-high .714 attacking clip.
LSU jumped out to early leads in the first two sets, posting a 5-0 lead in the first and a 10-3 lead in the second. The third set was tight until the Tigers took a 9-7 lead. LSU rattled off nine straight points to go up 18-7 before Arkansas scored again.
“We came in very prepared, and we jumped right on them from the start,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said. “We were very aggressive and very efficient. We haven’t been a quick-starting team all season, but tonight we came out and decided we were going to control things from the onset. We had a very balanced match and were composed at all times. We are happy to have at least a share of the SEC West.”
Cooper was not the only Tiger to enjoy offensive success as senior Kyna Washington tied Cooper with a match-high 10 kills with a .364 hitting percentage. Freshman Michele Williams contributed nine kills with a .389 clip. Senior Elena Martinez tied a career high with three service aces, a feat she has accomplished four other times.
Martinez also helped pace an LSU defense that did not allow any Razorback to register more than five kills while holding the Razorbacks as a team to a -.025 attacking percentage. Martinez recorded 16 digs, and freshman Lauren Waclawczyk added nine. Cooper and Brittney Johnson each recorded four total blocks while sophomore Tania Schatow added two and Williams and Washington each tallied one.
Arkansas’ Christina Lawrence led the Razorbacks with five kills while Heather Royal posted nine digs.
With the win LSU brought the all-time series record to 22-10, but the victory marked the Tigers’ seventh in a row over Arkansas and earned LSU’s third straight season sweep of the Razorbacks.
LSU will now travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss in a match that could decide if the Tigers clinch the SEC West title outright. The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports Net.