BATON ROUGE – Michele Williams turned in a dominating performance en route to 14 kills on a .480 hitting percentage and posted a match-best six blocks as the No. 15 LSU volleyball team picked up a powerful 3-0 sweep [25-13, 25-21, 25-22] over Kentucky Friday at the Maravich Center.
LSU (15-1, 6-1 SEC) snapped a four-match losing streak to the Wildcats (8-9, 2-5 SEC) and equaled the 15-1 start by the 2006 team. The Tigers also maintained their one-match edge over Ole Miss in the SEC Western Division race.
LSU’s defense set the tone and relegated the Kentucky attack to a .107 hitting percentage for the match. The Tigers held a 10-5 advantage in blocks sparked by quartet of players with four or more blocks.
“We’ve worked really hard on blocking this week,” head coach Fran Flory said. “It’s been coming, coming and finally I think it came into its own tonight. It’s hard to block different tempos of offenses. We’re really fast and early when we block our offense in practice. We haven’t done a very good job with adapting to a different rhythm and types of offenses. I thought for the first time tonight we were able to do that. The kids responded and 10 blocks in a three set match is a really nice statistic for us.”
Angela Bensend popped 13 kills to extend her double digit kills streak to 10 straight matches, while Madie Jones cracked nine kills on 19 swings for a .421 hitting ratio.
Brittney Johnson tabulated a complete effort spearheaded by a career-high 17 digs. She also handed out 32 assists, ripped five kills and tallied four blocks.
“We’re way more comfortable at home and it’s a good start to the weekend,” Jones said. “Beating Kentucky in three [sets] really says a lot about how we’re trying to start off the year and keep going in the SEC. I’m really proud of us.”
LSU’s back row compiled a 63 percent sideout efficiency and racked up 65 digs over the three-set affair. Lauren Waclawczyk sprawled out for 15 digs and distributed five assists. Meghan Mannari and Sam Delahoussaye chipped in 12 and 11 digs, respectively. Desiree Elliott and Tania Schatow recorded four blocks apiece for the Tigers.
“I think that’s amazing [65 digs in three sets],” Flory said. “We played great defense and I have to say, Brittney Johnson with 17 digs, that’s a huge step forward. We really challenged her and continue to challenge her to be a great defender. A lot of people go after her and think they can take us out of our offense. The fact that she was able to handle that, and our outsides were able to be so efficient out of that is definitely a good sign for the Tigers.”
LSU raced out to a 4-0 advantage in the first set behind a trio of Bensend kills and a Schatow-Williams block. Kentucky evened the tally at 10-10, but the Tigers fired back with 15 of the final 18 points of the frame. LSU forced the Wildcats into five attack errors and Victoria Jacobson slapped an ace to close out a dominating 25-13 triumph.
Down 20-19 in set two, LSU turned the tables on the Wildcats with four quick points capped by back-to-back Bensend kills to make it 23-20. After a UK sideout, Bensend ripped another kill and Williams provided a solo stuff to secure a 25-21 win.
The Tigers used late set heroics once again in the third frame. Trailing 21-20, Williams took over with three blocks and a spike to vault LSU to a 25-22 win.
“What works for us is we’re a fast offense so we try to run plays really fast and out-quick the other team,” Williams said. “Our tempo is important when we’re passing, when we’re setting, when we’re hitting, so we just try to go really quick.”
Lauren Rapp paced the Wildcats with 16 kills and 10 digs.
LSU continues its three-match homestand Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. tilt against No. 22 Tennessee. Prior to the match, the Tigers will honor the servicemen and women of Louisiana as part of the Salute the Troops Day.
Live video and live stats will be available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. Fans also can follow live in-match updates on the team’s official blog at http://lsuvolleyball.posterous.com.
Volleyball Post-Match Quotes
LSU vs. Kentucky – October 8, 2010
HEAD COACH FRAN FLORY
On the match…
“It was really nice to be at home today. We were very comfortable on our home court and a great performance by our team. We’ve worked really hard on blocking this week. It’s been coming, coming and finally I think it came into its own tonight. The offense for Michele [Williams] has been there and I think [Brittney] Johnson did a great job of creating for her again. Michele did a great job of keeping them off balance. She didn’t take as many hard swings. She was tipping, rolling and just creating scoring opportunities for us which is a new look.”
On a balanced blocking effort…
“It’s hard to block different tempos of offenses. We’re really fast and early when we block our offense in practice. We haven’t done a very good job with adapting to a different rhythm and types of offenses. I thought for the first time tonight we were able to do that. The kids responded and 10 blocks in a three set match is a really nice statistic for us.”
On Madie Jones‘ performance…
“I think Madie [Jones] would say she didn’t play well today. She was really frustrated because we weren’t creating. She couldn’t put the ball on the floor, and she’s somebody that really likes to put the ball on the floor with authority. The fact that she only had one hitting error on 19 swings is an absolutely wonderful performance. She put some balls away in the last portion of that [third] set. That’s what Madie does. When the chips are down, Madie will come through. She’s done it all year and once again she did it tonight.”
On the amount of digs, 65, for a three-set match…
“I think that’s amazing. We played great defense and I have to say, Brittney Johnson with 17 digs, that has to be a career-high. That’s a huge step forward. We really challenged her and continue to challenge her to be a great defender. A lot of people go after her and think they can take us out of our offense. The fact that she was able to handle that, and our outsides were able to be so efficient out of that is definitely a good sign for the Tigers.”
On Tennessee coming in on Sunday…
“Tennessee is a physical, fast team. They’re a team that will battle, will play hard. They serve tough. They have all the components. They have five or six people who are putting balls away and this is going to be a big challenge. They’re a much more balanced team. Our game plan is not going to be as specific against them. We’re going to have to be a little broader in our game plan, our defensive game plan. We’re going to have to play our system really well. We’re going to have to work hard on siding out on Sunday.”
VOLLEYBALL PLAYER QUOTES
OH MADIE JONES
On being back home and getting a three-set win vs. Kentucky…
“It was really nice being back home and having our home fans. We’re way more comfortable at home and it’s a good start to the weekend. Beating Kentucky in three [sets] really says a lot about how we’re trying to start off the year and keep going in the SEC. I’m really proud of us.”
On blocking tonight…
“We worked a lot this past week on blocking and defense. I’m really glad to say that it clicked. It shows when you really work hard on something and it comes through, especially against a team like Kentucky.”
On a high sideout percentage…
“We also worked on that a lot in practice. It really pays off. I’m glad we put in the work this week for it all to come through tonight.”
On playing Tennessee on Sunday…
“Even though tonight we beat [Kentucky] in three [sets], we still have some things we need to work on. I think we’ll come in tomorrow morning ready to go with a list of things we have to get going. We’ll be ready for Tennessee.”
On what was working for the offense tonight…
“What works for us is we’re a fast offense so we try to run plays really fast and out-quick the other team. Our tempo is important when we’re passing, when we’re setting, when we’re hitting, so we just try to go really quick.”
On blocking tonight…
“We’ve been working on blocking and together if we block then we can feed balls to our back row who are always going to be able to dig balls no matter what. It will help them out a lot and it will be a lot easier for them.”
On the back row opening up opportunities…
“The back row is amazing. Without them, the middles can’t hit anything. If it’s not a good pass, if it’s not a good dig then it takes the middles out of the offense and it’s a lot harder for our outsides to score without two hitters out there.”