FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Brittney Johnson handed out 41 assists and set a quintet of hitters to seven or more kills as the No. 17 LSU volleyball team finished the regular season on a strong note with a 3-0 victory over Arkansas [25-19, 25-19, 25-20] Wednesday at Barnhill Arena.
The Tigers (25-4, 16-4 SEC) ripped 50 kills on a .362 team hitting percentage and secured second place in the overall SEC standings.
“It was a nice win for us,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I really liked our offensive efficiency and our ball control. They [our ball control] did a great job of creating and keeping us in system. We played extremely fast and Brittney did a fantastic job of managing the offense. She was very athletic, played above the net and made great decisions. I’m extremely proud of her performance.”
Desiree Elliott, Tania Schatow and Michele Williams powered home 11 kills apiece. Schatow’s 11 spikes were a season-high, while Williams highlighted the group with a .643 ratio. Elliott has reached 10 or more kills in nine of her last 13 outings.
“Michele is becoming more comfortable on the outside,” Flory said. “She’s never done it before so we’re asking her to do something in crunch time that she hasn’t really gotten much time to practice. That’s a tribute to the type of athlete she is. Tania is working harder and harder. She’s gaining more confidence, speed and pace in her transition game. That opens up more opportunities for her and everyone else.”
Angela Bensend and Madie Jones connected for seven kills each. Bensend along with Lauren Waclawczyk each reeled in 10 digs to anchor the back row. For Waclawczyk, it was her 16th consecutive match with double figure scoops. Sam Delahoussaye added eight digs as LSU racked up a 73 percent sideout efficiency.
LSU led wire-to-wire in the opening frame and fired out of the gates with a .407 team hitting percentage. The Tigers forced Arkansas into seven attack errors and used a 7-3 finishing kick to pick up the 25-19 victory.
“Florida was a tough match [on Sunday], and we knew we had to bounce back right away,” Schatow said. “We knew Arkansas was a good team, especially at home. If you’re not on top of your game, they’re going to come right at you. We came in focused, knew we had to get it done and we did.”
Down 12-10 in the second set, LSU found its rhythm and reeled off 11 of the next 15 points to turn the tables to a 21-15 advantage sparked by three Schatow spikes. The Tigers closed out the frame with their lone block of the match, a Johnson-Williams stuff, for the 25-19 win.
The two teams split the first 16 points of set three before LSU strung together four straight points to grab a 12-8 advantage. The Tigers never looked back as Williams popped five kills in the frame to wrap up the 25-20 triumph and LSU’s 15th sweep of the season.
“We wanted to come out strong and fight through this match,” Williams said. “It was important that we came out focused with the NCAA Tournament coming up.”
LSU will await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN News. The Tigers are one of only 20 programs in the nation to qualify for the last five NCAA Tournament.