Match 1: LSU def. Long Beach St., 3-1
NEW ORLEANS ? After dropping the first set, the LSU volleyball team turned the tables on Long Beach State [20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21] highlighted by 21 Brittnee Cooper kills Saturday to open day two of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic at Tulane’s Fogelman Arena.
Cooper continued her hot streak, connecting for an impressive .447 hitting percentage. It’s the fourth time in the last five matches that Cooper has hit over a .400 clip. Sam Dabbs also tallied a double-double, dishing out 46 assists and powering home 10 kills of her own.
“Sam Dabbs did an excellent job of getting Brittnee Cooper the ball, head coach Fran Flory said. “I challenged Sam before the match to set Brittnee 50 balls and 38 times in four sets is pretty close. That means our passing and ball control was back to where we needed it to be.”
The Tigers (5-3) also received a solid performance from Lauren DeGirolamo, who posted a season-best nine kills on a .538 hitting percentage to go along with nine digs and four blocks. Angela Bensend anchored the back row and corralled a career-best 11 digs.
“I’m very proud of the people that we substituted into the lineup after the first set,” Flory said. “Lauren was able to get back into an offense rhythm in the middle. I also was impressed with Angela, not with her offensive numbers, but with ball security and adding to the team’s confidence level of the court.”
Marina Skender tacked on 10 kills and added nine digs, while Sam Delahoussaye reeled in nine digs taking over the defensive specialist position in the third and fourth sets. LSU also posted over a 75 percent sideout efficiency during the final three sets.
“Marina possesses a different comfort level and how she controls an out of system ball relaxes our team,” Flory said. “She’s the workhorse and the one behind the scenes that makes our offense go. I also thought Sam did a great job of handling the defensive specialist position and made some positive touches on out of system balls that we needed to have.”
After splitting the first 26 points of the opening set, Long Beach State strung together an 8-3 run as Ashley Lee set five 49ers to kills. The Tigers fought back to three points on three occasions, the latest at 23-20, before consecutive kills from Naomi Washington and Lee sealed the 25-20 win.
LSU responded by firing out to a 10-6 lead to start set two. A Washington spike brought the 49ers back to 13-11 before the Tigers strung together four of the next five points to go back ahead 17-12 capped by a Skender ace. Long Beach State once again trimmed the deficit down to two at 20-18 before a 49ers service error coupled with a Lauren Waclawczyk ace made it 22-18. A DeGirolamo and Dabbs block clinched the set at 25-21 and evened the match 1-1.
The Tigers continued to apply pressure on the 49ers up the middle in the third set en route to a 17-11 advantage as Cooper and DeGirolamo ripped four and three kills, respectively. Long Beach State went on an 8-4 mini spurt to get back to 21-19. Skender, DeGirolamo and Bensend answered with along with a Johnson ace to secure the 25-20 victory.
LSU was determined to close the match as Cooper, Skender and Bensend cranked a combined seven kills as the Tigers built a 15-10 lead to start set four. The 49ers got as close as 20-18 before LSU notched four straight sideouts and added a DeGirolamo kill for the 25-21 win.
The Tigers close out the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic later this afternoon against New Orleans. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. with live stats available on LSUsports.net
“I was pleased our defense stepped up after being challenged all week at practice,” Flory said. “We’ll need to do it again and continue to be efficient on offense because UNO is a feisty team.”
Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic All-Tournament Team
MVP ? Visnja Djurdjevic (Tulane)
Brittnee Cooper (LSU)
Marina Skender (LSU)
Caitlin Ledoux (Long Beach State)
Rachel Lindelow (Tulane)
Naomi Washington (Long Beach State)
Match 2: LSU def. New Orleans, 3-0
NEW ORLEANS ? Sam Dabbs picked up her second double-double of day, passing out 33 assists and adding 10 digs to fuel the LSU volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of New Orleans [25-15, 25-23, 25-20] Saturday at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic inside Tulane’s Fogelman Arena.
Dabbs also set the Tigers (6-3) to over a .300 team hitting percentage for the third time this season. The LSU defense racked up 11 blocks and held UNO (4-5) to a measly .128 clip.
“We got into a great rhythm and took a big step today,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We also were able to get some players experience and quality reps in situations that will help us down the road in SEC play. UNO is an experienced team with a deceptive offense that is hard to defend, and I was proud at how discipline our block was.”
Brittnee Cooper ripped a match-high 14 kills and tacked on three blocks. She posted another strong hitting percentage, a .542 clip, and has attacked at over .400 in five of her last six matches.
Marina Skender turned in a complete effort with 10 kills, five digs and five blocks, while Lauren DeGirolamo cranked five blocks to go along with six blocks.
“Brittnee is really going over the top of people,” Flory said. “You have to credit Sam for giving her the ball in the right location and not being afraid to make her go get a ball. There are so many setters in our game that have a tendency to underset the big players.”
Brittney Johnson reeled in eight digs and totaled six blocks. Sam Delahoussaye and Lauren Waclawczyk corralled four digs apiece.
“Our ball control was fantastic and Sam was big at defensive specialist again,” Flory said. “Lauren also came in and did a fantastic job in a different role that is going to be valuable down the road.”
LSU used a strong finishing kick in the opening set to turn a 13-11 hole into a 25-15 win. The run was sparked by six blocks, four featuring DeGirolamo, along with two Johnson kills.
UNO jumped out to an early 13-9 advantage aided by three Marina Szivos kills, who ended up pacing the Privateers with 13 kills. The Tigers charged back to catch the Privateers at 16-16 and back-to-back kills from Skender and Dabbs made it 19-17. UNO rallied to even the score at 23-23 before Cooper popped consecutive kills after a LSU timeout to secure a 25-23 victory.
The Tigers raced out to a 15-10 lead in set three and never looked back en route to a 25-20 win. Cooper and Skender knocked five kills apiece to seal the sweep.
LSU moves into SEC action Friday against Tennessee. First serve is on-tap for 7 p.m. with live video and live stats available on LSUsports.net. Fans also can follow LSUVolleyball on Twitter for in-match updates.
“Tennessee and Kentucky is one of toughest two-match weekends, and we’re fortunate to start SEC play at home,” Flory said. “We haven’t been able to win on Friday night this season, and I challenged the team to come out and take care of business.”