NEW ORLEANS ? The LSU volleyball team was handed a 3-1 setback [21-25, 23-25, 25-20, 21-25] by Tulane Friday to open the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic in front of 1,648 fans at Fogelman Arena.
Tulane (3-2) was paced by Visnja Djurdjevic and Ksenija Vlaskovic, who combined for 35 of Green Wave’s 52 kills. Djudjevic popped a match-best 19 kills and added 11 digs, while Rachel Lindelow passed out a match-high 41 assists to go along with 10 digs. Vlaskovic chipped in 16 kills and nine digs.
“You have to credit Tulane because they played with great heart and desire after dropping their Conference USA championship banner from last year,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We didn’t have anybody willing to step up and carry us to win tonight.”
Three Tigers picked up double-digit kills. Marina Skender knocked a season-high 16 kills and added 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Brittnee Cooper ripped 12 kills on a .348 hitting percentage, while Michele Williams tallied 10 kills and five blocks.
LSU (4-3) was held to a .215 hitting percentage as Brittney Johnson and Sam Dabbs distributed 25 and 18 assists, respectively. The Tigers also committed a season-high 15 service errors.
“The key to the match tonight was we weren’t able to make the big play when we needed one,” Flory said. “We would answer, but didn’t have a response for Tulane’s answer. It’s too bad we had to lose to gain something because this match long-term will be a positive for us. At the same time, we’re disappointed and it’s unacceptable to lose.”
Tulane built a pair of four-point leads in the first set before the Tigers trimmed the deficit down to 17-16. After a timeout, the Green Wave reeled off four consecutive points aided by three Cooper attack errors to go ahead 21-16. LSU got back to 24-21 before a Djurdjevic kill gave Tulane the opening frame.
LSU responded to grab an early 13-9 advantage in set two capped by a Dabbs and Williams block. The Green Wave turned to the momentum with six straight points on Djurdjevic’s serve to go up 15-13 and maintained the led for the rest of the set. LSU pulled within one point four times, but a Williams service error at 24-23 gave Tulane a two-set edge.
The Tigers led throughout a majority of the third set as Skender cranked six kills in the frame, including the go-ahead spike at 10-10. Johnson took the reigns of the offense with 11 assists and LSU never looked back in a 25-20 win.
A Williams kill gave LSU an 11-9 advantage in the fourth set. Tulane charged back with a 9-3 spurt capped by a Vlaskovic spike to grab an 18-14 cushion. The Tigers responded with four of the next five points to make it 19-18, but the Green Wave received back-to-back Djurdevic kills en route to closing out the match 25-21.
LSU wraps up the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic Saturday against Long Beach State and New Orleans. First serve is slated for 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. with live stats available on LSUsports.net for both matches. Fans also can follow LSUVolleyball on Twitter for in-match updates.
“I challenged the team to come back with a vengeance tomorrow,” Flory said. “We have to have the right people step up at the right times. There’s no doubt we have to figure out the difference between playing with intensity or full of tensity. It’s a learning curve that we have to work through.”