COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Michele Williams connected for 12 kills on 19 swings without an attack error for a career-best .632 hitting percentage and claimed Most Valuable Player honors of the Texas A&M Invitational as the No. 23 LSU volleyball team dismantled Texas A&M 3-0 [25-9, 25-17, 25-22] Saturday at Reed Arena.
Angela Bensend and Lauren Waclawczyk joined Williams with All-Tournament Team honors as the Tigers (3-0) notched a .389 team hitting percentage, while limiting the Aggies (1-2) to a trifling .081 ratio. LSU held all three of its opponents to under a .100 team clip for the weekend.
“We know playing at A&M is always difficult because they have such a great environment,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We tried to prepare our kids for that, but I would have never dreamt that we would be this prepared this early in the season. I’m really proud of our team, we took a huge step forward.”
Williams tacked on four blocks, four digs, three aces and two assists. The Magnolia, Texas native also started last season as MVP of the Shamrock Invitational hosted by Notre Dame.
“We were extremely hyped for this match and looking forward to playing A&M after what happened to us last year [in the NCAA’s],” Williams said. “The team is starting to come together. We’re getting more comfortable with each other, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Tigers posted a 66 percent sideout efficiency and have won 46 consecutive sets when posting a 70 percent clip or better dating back to last season. Meghan Mannari and Waclawczyk tracked down nine and eight digs, respectively. Waclawczyk also passed out six assists, one shy of her career-high.
Brittney Johnson turned in a complete effort in all facets of the game. The Baton Rouge native nearly compiled a triple-double with 28 assists, nine digs, seven kills and three blocks. Bensend cranked a match-best 14 kills, while Desiree Elliott chipped in six kills and two blocks.
“Brittney set a wonderful match and is an offensive threat,” Flory said. “She’s a frustrated hitter that we’re making set. When Johnson gets a chance to swing, she’s going to take it. Our assistant coach, Steve Loeswick, has been working really hard to help her mature as a setter. She did a great job today of picking when, where and how to attack A&M.”
LSU clicked on all cylinders out of the gate and built a 15-5 advantage in the first set. The Tigers used tough serving as Bensend, Mannari, Waclawzyk and Williams each tallied aces. LSU never looked back and cruised to the 25-9 win as Bensend and Williams provided the offense with five kills apiece.
“This was one of our best serving efforts of a team I had at LSU,” Flory said. “The pressure got A&M out of their system and caused some problems. This team has to be a great serving/passing team to be successful. Our ball control also was outstanding today.”
LSU led wire-to-wire in set two. At 16-13, the Tigers put together a strong finishing kick en route to nine of the final 13 points of the frame to claim a 25-17 victory. Elliott struck for two kills and two blocks during the run.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair as the two teams exchanged the first 20 points. LSU went ahead 19-13 before the Aggies responded to grab a 22-21 edge. Out of Tiger timeout, Bensend ripped consecutive kills followed by a Williams spike and an A&M attack error to complete the sweep, 25-22.
“Michele is a different type of middle [than Brittnee Cooper] but she’s just as explosive,” Flory said. “The thing that I feel great about is that A&M knew what we were trying to do, and she was still able to be very successful.”
LSU returns to the Lone Star state next weekend for the TCU Tournament. The Tigers have matches scheduled with Alcorn State, Central Arkansas and TCU in Fort Worth.
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.
Texas A&M Invitational All-Tournament Team
Taylor Akana, Siena
Angela Bensend, LSU
Kelsey Black, Texas A&M
Hannah Clancy, Pacific
Svenja Engelhardt, Pacific
Lauren Waclawczyk, LSU
MVP: Michele Williams, LSU