COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – The No. 23 LSU volleyball team used a total team effort en route to a 3-0 dominant victory over Siena [25-16, 25-13, 25-22] Friday evening at Reed Arena to conclude day one of the Texas A&M Invitational.
LSU moved to 2-0 for the sixth time in the last seven seasons as six Tigers registered five or more kills. LSU (2-0) racked up a .308 hitting percentage for the match and limited Siena (0-2) to a paltry .024 clip.
Michele Williams headlined the group with nine kills on a .412 ratio and totaled three blocks, while Madie Jones and Tania Schatow added seven kills apiece.
Victoria Jacobsen, Shelby Pursley, Brittany Steele and Nicole Willis each made their LSU debuts. Pursley distributed a team-best 16 assists and connected on all five of her attacks during sets two and three.
Lauren Waclawczyk secured a match-high 12 digs on the back row and ripped a career-best four aces. Meghan Mannari along with Jacobsen and Willis also notched a quintet of digs as LSU’s back line executed at an impressive 72 percent sideout efficiency. The Tigers have won 44 straight sets when posting a 70 percent effort or better dating back to last season.
“It was great to get everyone on the court,” head coach Fran Flory said. “At one point in the third set, we had five freshmen and one sophomore on the floor. I’ve said it from the beginning that everyone on the team and all the freshmen were going to be significant. They were disciplined, and I’m really excited about the effort they provided tonight.”
LSU fired out to a 5-0 lead aided by two Waclawczyk aces. A Desiree Elliott kill expanded the advantage to 14-4 and the Tigers never looked back to claim set one, 25-16. In her lone frame of action, Brittney Johnson passed out 13 assists and reeled in five digs.
The second set was much of the same as LSU constructed an early 11-7 edge before stringing together 14 of the final 20 points to come away with a 25-13 triumph. The Tigers knocked a crisp .556 hitting clip for the frame and tallied seven of their nine aces in the first two sets.
“We talked in between matches about being aggressive and really driving the ball on our serves,” Flory said. “The goal was to make our serving a true threat, and I thought we responded very well.”
Set three featured seven ties and four lead changes. All square at 14-14, LSU used a Steele ace and a Pursley-Williams stuff coupled with a Siena attack error to go ahead 17-14. The Saints charged back to within one point on three separate occasions, but Schatow shut the door with a trio of kills down the stretch to secure the sweep, 25-22.
“We want Tania out there,” Flory said. “She’s a big, physical blocking force. We need to create the right opportunities for her on offense. I don’t know if we’ve done that yet. As a senior, it’s time for her to really step in and she’s done a very nice job for us.”
LSU wraps up its opening weekend Saturday against Texas A&M in a rematch of last season’s NCAA Second Round tilt. First serve is slated for Noon and live stats are available on LSUsports.net.
“Texas A&M is a carbon copy of ourselves,” Flory said. “They’re very young after losing four or five seniors like we did. I think our team is excited to play that match. They’re a fast, physical team that’s going to be a completely different match-up than we’ve seen so far.”
For the latest information on Tiger volleyball, log on to http://www.lsusports.net/volleyball, follow the program’s twitter page at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball and check out live in-match updates on the team’s official blog at http://lsuvolleyball.posterous.com.