ATHENS, Ga. – Brittney Johnson dished out 52 assists to go along with 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season and fueled four hitters to double figure kills to lift the No. 17 LSU volleyball team to a hard-fought 3-2 triumph over Georgia [25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 26-28, 15-10] Friday in the SEC second half opener for both teams at the Ramsey Center.
Michele Williams and Angela Bensend blasted 17 kills apiece to pace a new-look Tiger attack. Williams connected for a .556 hitting ratio on 27 swings, while Desiree Elliott powered home a career-best 15 kills on a .414 clip and added six blocks.
“We made some adjustments in our offense,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We felt like we could use some people differently and certainly tonight showed that it’s going to be a productive change for us. It’s always a little bit scary to do that at this point in the season. Brittney did a great job, it’s awfully difficult for a setter when you change your offense. It’s like starting the season over. We persevered, fought and had great faith that we would succeed. We’ll continue to get better. This is a great start to the second half of the SEC.”
Madie Jones chipped in 11 kills as LSU (18-2, 9-2 SEC) came away with a .293 team hitting percentage. It marked the second time that the Tigers had four players reach double digit kills this season. On the defensive end, Tania Schatow matched a season-high with seven blocks to facilitate a 14-stuff effort. Lauren Waclawczyk reeled in 13 digs to anchor the back row.
“Tania had seven blocks, and I think that’s a huge step for her,” Flory said. “We’ve really worked with her, and she’s worked extremely hard by putting in the extra time with our staff. I’m really proud of her effort and her blocking was the key in many huge plays tonight.”
After splitting the first four sets, the two teams stayed deadlocked early in the deciding frame. At 6-6, LSU took control after a Jones kill coupled with a trio of Georgia miscues to surge ahead 10-6.
The Bulldogs (11-11, 3-8 SEC) ran off consecutive points to get back to 10-8, but Williams provided a huge sideout kill followed by a Bensend-Schatow block to regain a 12-8 advantage. The Tigers used two Bensend kills down the stretch to close out the 15-10 victory.
LSU’s defense limited UGA to a .000 hitting percentage and compiled a match-best 80 percent sideout efficiency during the fifth set.
“It felt good, and we executed when it was most important,” Johnson said. “I went in and studied a lot of what I needed to do to get better. Being more prepared helped me be more confident. I knew who my hitters were and knew who could put the ball away.”
LSU led wire-to-wire and came out firing on all cylinders in the opening set. The Tigers won an offensive showcase and outhit UGA .440 to .304. A Jones kill pushed LSU ahead 18-13 before the Bulldogs charged back to within three points on three occasions, the latest at 24-21. A UGA service error wrapped up the 25-21 win. Elliott and Williams combined for eight of Tigers 14 kills during the frame.
Georgia regrouped in set two and forced LSU into seven hitting errors to build an 18-7 advantage. The Tigers ran off nine of the next 10 points to pull back to 19-16 aided by trio of Elliott kills. At 23-20, UGA blocked Bensend and tacked on a kill via an overpass for the 25-20 victory.
LSU surged ahead 22-18 on back-to-back spikes from Bensend and Williams in the third set. Down 24-20, the Bulldogs fended off four set points before LSU responded with the final answer via a Williams kill and ace to go along with a Bensend spike for the 27-25 triumph.
“Michele is such a great athlete,” Flory said. “That’s one of the reasons we felt we could do these different things and give her some more opportunities. We have to make sure we continue to use her correctly and get her into the right situations.”
Set four was much of the same as the two teams tied 18 times and traded six lead changes. LSU erased a set point and swiped a 25-24 edge on a Williams kill. The Bulldogs came away with four of the final five points fueled by a pair of aces for the 28-26 win.
Kathleen Gates circulated 52 assists and recorded six blocks for UGA. She also positioned four hitters to 10 or more kills highlighted by Ann Dylla, who cranked 14 spikes and tallied seven blocks.
“We were pushing ourselves and everyone stepped up tonight,” Bensend said. “Madie was great, Michele was phenomenal and Desiree was doing her thing. Tania’s blocking was awesome, we’ve been working hard on blocking in practice and it’s showing in the matches.”
LSU heads to Auburn for a Sunday tilt on the Plains. First serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. with live stats available on LSUsports.net in the Geaux Zone. Fans also can follow live in-match updates on the team’s official blog at http://lsuvolleyball.posterous.com.