ATHENS, Ga. — Marina Skender and Angela Bensend cranked a combined 23 kills on a .346 hitting percentage to lift the LSU volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Georgia [25-13, 30-28, 25-22] Sunday at the Ramsey Center in-front of 1,243 fans. Bensend’s 10 kills and .400 hitting clip were season-highs, while Skender tacked on nine digs and two aces.
“We were completely a middle dominated team in the beginning of the season,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Both of our outside hitters did a tremendous job of carrying us this weekend. That’s a new step for our team and something that will help build our confidence down the road.”
The LSU (9-4, 3-1 SEC) defense also provided 13 blocks as Michele Williams [7 blocks], Lauren DeGirolamo [6 blocks] and Brittnee Cooper [5 blocks] dominated the net. The Tigers served tough en route to a season-high nine aces and limited UGA (10-4, 1-2 SEC) to a .111 hitting percentage.
Sam Dabbs distributed a match-high 32 assists to go along with seven kills and four blocks. She set the Tigers to a .394 and .333 hitting percentage in the first and third sets, respectively.
“Sam is an offensive weapon and I think she’s a frustrated hitter deep down inside,” Flory said. “She does such a great job of running a balanced offense. She doesn’t get overzealous when she decides to dump the ball [on the second touch].”
Lauren Waclawczyk corralled 11 digs for her fourth consecutive double-digit dig performance and matched a career-best with three aces, while DeGirolamo reeled in nine digs.
“Our focus was to come together as a team, and we took a huge step in that direction this weekend,” Dabbs said. “Our solid passing makes my job easier. It allows me to see the block and deliver the ball to our hitters in the best opportunities to score.”
LSU came out clicking on all cylinders to grab a 15-6 lead and never looked back in a 25-13 opening set romp. The Tigers received five Bensend kills on eight swings and Williams teamed in four of the five blocks. LSU also converted on 71 percent of its sideout attempts during the frame.
The Bulldogs built a 13-8 advantage behind three Erika Clark kills to start the second set. LSU went on a 6-1 run to tie the score at 14-14 as Cooper slapped two kills and paired with DeGirolamo for two blocks. After seven ties, the Tigers also fought off two set points and at 28-28 pieced together a Skender kill coupled with a UGA attack error to emerge with a 30-28 victory.
UGA jumped out to a 12-7 edge in the third set before the Tigers strung together 12 of the next 19 points to catch the Bulldogs at 19-19 aided by a trio of Skender spikes. A Waclawczyk ace put LSU ahead 21-20 edge before the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back kills to go up 22-21. Following a LSU timeout, the Tigers secured the sweep with four consecutive points for the 25-22 win.
“Our biggest accomplishment was being able to stay the course and come back from big deficits in sets two and three,” Flory said. “I’m extremely proud of the confidence level we showed in tight situations on the road.”
LSU starts the second half of its four-match SEC road trip Friday at Alabama (5-9, 3-1 SEC). First serve against the Crimson Tide is set for 7 p.m. The match between SEC Western Division Co-Leaders also will be televised live by Fox Sports South.