BATON ROUGE – The No. 15 LSU volleyball team used a disciplined blocking scheme as Desiree Elliott, Tania Schatow and Michele Williams provided eight solo stuffs to vault the Tigers to a gritty 3-1 triumph [25-23, 30-28, 23-25, 25-20] over No. 22 Tennessee Sunday at the Maravich Center.
LSU (16-1, 7-1 SEC) won the back-and-forth affair that featured 43 ties and 17 lead changes. The victory also allowed the Tigers to maintain their one-match lead over Ole Miss, a 3-0 winner over Georgia, in the SEC Western Division race.
“This was a great SEC volleyball match, every single point was a battle,” head coach Fran Flory said. “There were great defensive plays on both sides of the net, and I think we just made a few more plays. We had a blocking scheme against them. We knew [Nikki] Fowler was going to be somebody that they wanted to go to, so we kind of hedged toward her. They sent some different people to our outsides, and we did a great job stepping up. I’m really proud of them.”
Another reason LSU limited Tennessee (13-4, 5-3 SEC) to a .203 hitting percentage was their back row defense. Lauren Waclawczyk corralled 21 digs for her fifth 20-plus scoop effort of the season. Sam Delahoussaye and Meghan Mannari also reeled in 15 and 10 digs, respectively.
Brittney Johnson fueled three hitters to double digit kills and passed out a match-best 46 assists to go along with 15 digs for her eighth double-double.
Angela Bensend belted 18 kills for her 11th straight double figure performance, while Madie Jones continued her hot streak with 16 kills on 30 swings for a scorching .433 hitting clip. Elliott added 10 kills and Williams tacked on eight spikes for the Tigers.
“We had so much faith in our defense today,” Jones said. “Lauren Waclawczyk and everyone in the back row played great digging all of those crazy balls; so did everyone in the front row with the blocking. We really learned to trust each other today.”
Tied at 14-14 in the first set, LSU ran off a 7-2 spurt to build a 21-16 lead. Bensend and Elliott powered home a pair of kills coupled with a Delahoussaye to spark the run. The Lady Vols pulled back to 24-23 taking advantage of two LSU attack errors and two service miscues. LSU regrouped behind a Jones kill for the deciding blow and the 25-23 win.
Set two was another slugfest which saw neither team jump out to more than a three-point spread. Nikki Fowler fired in consecutive kills to hand Tennessee a 24-23 edge. The Tigers turned to Bensend for the equalizer. After the two teams traded the next eight points, LSU used a Jones kill along with a Johnson ace to emerge with the hard-fought 30-28 victory.
“Whenever you believe that you are going to win the game, you just do stuff out of your body that you don’t normally do,” Johnson said. “It’s even different from practice carrying over into the game. I believed in us completely, and we all made some good plays and that was really important.”
LSU pieced together Jones and Elliott spikes to go ahead 19-16 in the third set. Out of a Tennessee timeout, the Lady Vols charged back with a nine of the final 13 points of the frame capped by four Leah Hinkley kills to notch the 25-23 win.
All square at 17-17 in set four, LSU surged ahead with an Elliott-Schatow block sandwiched between Jones and Bensend kills. Tennessee got back to 20-20 on a Fowler kill before the Tigers ripped off the final five points of the frame. LSU used a trio of blocks, two involving Williams, to secure the 25-20 win.
“We have a lot of confidence and faith in each other,” Flory said. “When you win this many matches, it’s hard to break a team. We’ve proven that and earned the right to believe that when we walk on the court we have a chance to beat anybody. I don’t think we get rattled. Our leaders step up and say, ‘it’s fine we’re just going to side out.’ Since we’re able to side out at such a high level of efficiency, which really lends itself to that confidence level.”
Fowler paced Tennessee with 18 kills and 17 digs. She was held to a .183 hitting percentage, her third lowest output of the season. Kayla Jeter and Hinkey chipped in 13 and 12 kills for the Lady Vols
LSU returns to action for a nationally-televised contest Wednesday against Arkansas. First serve is slated for 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
Live video and live stats for Sunday’s match 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 Quotes
LSU vs. Tennessee – October 10, 2010
Head Coach Fran Flory
On making the plays down the stretch…
“This was a great SEC volleyball match, every single point was a battle. There were great defensive plays on both sides of the net, and I think we just made a few more plays. If you look at the stats, they’re very similar. There are a few errors from one team to the other that really decided this match.”
On the 14-7 blocking edge…
“We had a blocking scheme against them. We knew [Nikki] Fowler was going to be somebody that they wanted to go to, so we kind of hedged toward her. They sent some different people to our outsides, and we did a great job stepping up. I’m really proud of them.”
On Brittney Johnson‘s performance…
“Our back court defense and passing was outstanding on both sides. Several of her [Johnson’s] swings were in transition, so we tried to force her in transition. Tennessee had a great blocking scheme, and we had to make some adjustments. You have to credit [Brittney] Johnson for making those choices and our hitters ability to respond.”
On team fighting back when down…
“We have a lot of confidence and faith in each other. When you win this many matches, it is hard to break a team. We’ve proven that and earned the right to believe that when we walk on the court we have a chance to beat anybody. I don’t think we get rattled. Our leaders step up and say, ‘it’s fine we’re just going to side out.’ Since we’re able to side out at such a high level of efficiency, that really lends itself to that confidence level.”
On the 2-0 weekend and facing Arkansas on Wednesday…
“This is a huge run for us. Having a nationally televised game match on our home court, it can’t get much better than that. We’re going to have to recover fast. This was a long weekend and a long stretch. Arkansas is a youthful team. They’re very athletic, very well coached and a well disciplined team. Its SEC volleyball, you have to be on top of your game every match.”
Setter Brittney Johnson
On finishing the weekend 2-0…
“Every game is just as important as the last. We know we’re supposed to take care of the matches we are supposed to take care of. We have to be positive and confident throughout the whole game.”
On making the clutch plays in a close match…
“Whenever you believe that you are going to win the game, you just do stuff out of your body that you don’t normally do. It’s even different from practice carrying over into the game. I believed in us completely, and we all made some good plays and that was really important.”
On Madie Jones‘s play…
“Madie is making progress every day. She has ‘it’ in her, and she is going to be awesome. The more she believes that she can put the ball away, she’ll do it.”
Outside Hitter Madie Jones
On ending the weekend 2-0…
“I’m really excited about how we’re playing. Tennessee is a great team, so it was good to come out and beat them in four sets. We knew they were going to comeback in the third and fourth game, so to fight the way we did make me really excited.”
On team believing in each other…
“We had so much faith in our defense today. Lauren Waclawczyk and everyone in the back row were digging all of those crazy balls played great. So did everyone in the front row with the blocking. We really learned to trust each other today.”
On chemistry with Brittney Johnson…
“I think we’re getting some excellent passes. Johnson has done a great job with her sets and getting us one-on-one with the blockers. I’m just trying to follow up with my job because they’re all doing so well.”
On upcoming match with Arkansas…
“I’m really excited about it because it’s in the middle of the week, so hopefully we will draw a big crowd. There is going to be a great atmosphere. Arkansas is a really great team, so we will be going really hard in practice to prepare for them.”