BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team took two of the first three sets, but a veteran Miami squad battled back to come away with a hard-fought 3-2 decision [25-27, 25-13, 25-6, 22-25, 8-15] Saturday to conclude the Tiger Classic as 1,055 fans gathered at the Maravich Center.
Meghan Mannari racked up a career-best 36 digs to anchor the back row. Her 36 digs are the second-highest output in program history for a single match, only behind former All-American Elena Martinez’s 43 digs at Alabama during the 2007 season. In the process, Mannari earned Tiger Classic Defensive MVP honors.
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The Hurricanes used 14 kills, 17 digs and five blocks from Alex Johnson, who notched Tiger Classic Tournament MVP honors. Lane Carico slapped 11 kills and tacked on 17 digs for Miami. Defensively, Ryan Shaffer scooped up 30 digs coupled with nine-block effort for Emani Sims to pace the Hurricanes. Miami also notched a 7.5 to three blocking edge over the final two sets.
“Our inexperience cost us the match,” head coach Fran Flory said. “With their experience level, credit Miami because they made plays when they needed them the most. Lane Carico, Alex Johnson and Katie Gallagher did a great job for them. They just kept themselves in plays, and they didn’t error themselves out. The bottom line is we weren’t able to execute within our offensive system at clutch times. We’re going to grow up and be able to do that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t execute at the key moments we needed to tonight.”
Helen Boyle turned in a solid all-around performance and garnered her career-highs with 16 kills to go along with 20 digs. It was Boyle’s first career double-double.
“Helen is a great balanced player, and we’re not surprised by that,” Flory said. “She has done this at every level and that’s why she’s in the starting lineup as a freshman playing all six rotations. We were waiting for her breakout, and the good news is it came in the ‘clutch match’ of the weekend. That’s a good sign for the future.”
Malorie Pardo joined Boyle with her initial double-double as a Tiger. She passed out 53 assists and secured 15 digs as LSU (3-1) outhit Miami (3-0) by a .184 to .146 margin.
Desiree Elliott cranked 15 kills and added three blocks, while Madie Jones popped 14 kills. Both Elliott and Jones took home Tiger Classic All-Tournament Team accolades. Michele Williams chipped in nine kills and eight blocks for the Tigers.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 17 ties and seven lead changes. Neither team held more than a two-point advantage throughout the frame. LSU turned a 23-22 deficit into a 24-23 advantage after forcing Christine Williamson into consecutive attack errors. The Tigers were unable to capitalize on their two set points, and Williamson regrouped with three straight kills as Miami escaped with a 27-25 win.
LSU fired back with 15 kills on 35 swings and posted a match-best .429 hitting percentage during set two. Ahead 7-5, the Tigers ran off nine straight points off Boyle’s serve. Elliott fueled the spurt with two kills and two blocks. LSU won going away 25-13, and Elliott finished the frame with seven spikes.
The Tigers once again turned to a critical surge during the middle of the frame to capture the third set. With a 14-13 edge, LSU reeled off 11 of the final 14 points to post a 25-16 victory. Pardo set a balanced attack behind four kills apiece from Boyle and Williams.
Miami grinded out a 25-22 triumph in set four and were aided by eight LSU hitting miscues. Down 21-17, the Tigers got back within two points on three separate occasions. However, the Hurricanes answered each time, the latest at 24-22, with a Johnson spike to force a decisive fifth set.
The final frame turned after four consecutive LSU attack errors made a 4-4 deadlock into an 8-4 Miami advantage. Sims secured three blocks highlighted by a solo stuff on Elliott to cap the spurt. LSU charged back to 9-7, but the Hurricanes fended off the Tigers with six of the last seven points to wrap up a 15-8 decision.
“We need to improve offensively,” Flory said. “I thought we were in a good rhythm prior to this match. When teams can stop our first and second options, we lack experience with our third and fourth options. We will need to expand our offensive options. The only thing that beat us defensively was roll shots, and we’ll have to improve at defending out of system shots.”
LSU embarks on an eight-match road swing starting next weekend at the New Mexico State Tournament where the Tigers will face Arkansas-Little Rock, Grambling and host New Mexico State.
Live stats will be offered through the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net, while in-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
Fans are encouraged to take advantage of the Geaux Free program and receive free admission for every home match this season compliments of The Advocate.
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Alex Johnson [Miami]
Defensive MVP: Meghan Mannari [LSU]
Desiree Elliott [LSU]
Katie Gallagher [Miami]
Madie Jones [LSU]
Ryan Shaffer [Miami]
Blair Claypoole [ULL]
Stephanie Koontz [Jacksonville State]
LSU Volleyball Quotes
LSU vs. Miami – August 27, 2011
LSU HEAD COACH FRAN FLORY
On the match…
“Our inexperience cost us the match. With their experience level, credit Miami because they made plays when they needed them the most. Lane Carico, Alex Johnson and Katie Gallagher did a great job for them. They just kept themselves in plays, and they didn’t error themselves out. Neither of our teams played as well as the other matches we played on the weekend. The bottom line is we weren’t able to execute within our offensive system at clutch times. We’re going to grow up and be able to do that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t execute at the key moments we needed to tonight.”
On Miami’s defense…
“They didn’t really take away our middles. We made choices at the end of the match where we didn’t create enough for the middles. That’s something we have to get better at. Our middles are going to have to improve in vision and movement. We got better tonight. Preseason and preconference the most important thing is you win. Secondary is you improve. Miami exploited our weaknesses and that will make us figure out how to be a better team. Miami is a very good team. They will make some noise in the ACC and is on the cusp of being a Top 25 team. It was a great match for us, unfortunate that we didn’t win. I liked our effort. and our composure. I just didn’t like the way we finished.”
On Helen Boyle…
“Helen is a great balanced player, and we’re not surprised by that. She has done this at every level and that’s why she’s in the starting lineup as a freshman playing all six rotations. We were waiting for her breakout, and the good news is it came in the ‘clutch match’ of the weekend. That’s a good sign for the future.”
On adjustments going forward…
“We need to improve offensively. I thought we were in a good rhythm prior to this match. When teams can stop our first and second options, we lack experience with our third and fourth options. We will need to expand our offensive options. The only thing that beat us defensively was roll shots, and we’ll have to improve at defending out of system shots.”