OXFORD, Miss. — The LSU volleyball team continued its outstanding play by sweeping Ole Miss, 25-20, 25-17, 25-19, on Sunday afternoon in the Gillom Sports Center to clinch the Southeastern Conference Western Division title outright, marking the fourth-straight season the Tigers have been champions of the West.
LSU (17-9, 12-7 SEC) won its fifth-straight match of the season with outstanding offense as the Tigers built upon Friday night’s match against Arkansas by posting a .417 team attack percentage against Ole Miss. The Rebels (13-15, 9-10 SEC) were led by freshman Katie Norris who finished with a match-high 15 kills.
“I am really proud of our team today because this is a very difficult environment to play in,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said. “It was Senior Day for Ole Miss, and the fact that we maintained our composure and played better than we did Friday night really is a tribute to how hard we have worked. We are peaking at the right time, and our kids know they are playing for something. They have continued to improve, they are still focused and they know there is still a lot out there for them.”
The first set was back and forth as the Tigers and Rebels traded points. LSU built as much as a four point lead at 15-11 before Ole Miss came back to tie it at 20 apiece. Flory called LSU’s first timeout of the set after the Rebels tied it at 20, and the Tigers responded by posting five straight points after the timeout to win the set, 25-20.
The second set was a different story as LSU built a five-point lead at 11-6 and two six-point advantages at 17-11 and 19-13. Ole Miss got within five points of the Tigers at 22-17, but LSU scored the next three points to go up two sets to none, 25-17.
The third set began much like the first as the teams went back and forth as the set was tied six times. With the match knotted at 9-9, the Tigers racked five straight points to take a 14-9 lead. Ole Miss got within one point of LSU at 17-16, but the Tigers picked up eight of the last 11 points to clinch the match and the SEC West title, 25-19.
The Tigers were led offensively by senior Kyna Washington and junior Brittnee Cooper who each pounded out 13 kills while freshman Michele Williams posted 10.
Defensively, Elena Martinez moved into third place all time in LSU career digs as she tallied 22 against the Rebels. Martinez’ 1,369 digs surpassed Kassi Mikulik‘s 1,357. The Tigers also posted 10 team blocks as Cooper, the SEC leader in blocks per set, racked up six blocks to pace LSU. Overall, the Tigers were superb as they held Ole Miss to a .167 hitting percentage.
With the win the Tigers improved to 45-12 all time against Ole Miss and completed the season sweep of the Rebels for the second straight season.
The SEC West champion Tigers will be back in action in the regular season finale on Nov. 29 at 1:30 p.m. against Georgia in Baton Rouge.