BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The LSU volleyball team charged back from a 17-11 deficit during the fourth set to force a deciding frame, but was unable to complete its comeback effort as Xavier snatched a 3-2 decision [17-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 11-15] Friday to wrap up day one of the WKU Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
LSU (7-2) had its four-match winning streak come to a close and dropped its second five-set match of the season. The Tigers also had their 16-match run during the month of September dating back to the 2009 season end.
“I have to credit our team for coming back in the fourth set,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I thought we were going to be in control at the start of the last set. This was a great step for us to make the decision to dig deep and win the fourth. The next step has to be to finish the fifth set. This young team just needs to continue to develop.”
LSU’s offense was sparked by its All-SEC Preseason selections Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams, who racked up 30 of the squad’s 60 kills for the match. Elliott powered home 16 kills and tallied a match-high six blocks. Williams countered with 14 kills, five digs and three blocks.
Helen Boyle and Malorie Pardo notched double-doubles for the Tigers. Pardo distributed 50 assists to go along with 10 digs and four blocks. It was her second double-double of the day and third in her last four outings. Boyle popped 12 kills and 11 digs to secure her third career double-double.
On the back row, LSU had five players register double digit digs for the first time this season. Meghan Mannari reeled in a team-high 19 digs, while Sam Delahoussaye and Lauren Waclawczyk chipped in 12 scoops apiece.
Xavier (5-3) received a magnificent all-around effort from Sarah Brown, who compiled a match-high 22 kills to go along with 22 digs. Aubree Smith came away with 57 assists, eight digs and five kills. She set the Musketeers to a .256 hitting percentage, a season-high for a LSU opponent.
“We didn’t have an answer for Brown,” Flory said. “We kept trying to get our team in the right positions, but couldn’t get our blockers to respond how we needed them to. She picked every right shot, that’s a great performance by a very talented player.”
The Tigers used some moxie to erase a six-point hole at 17-11 in the fourth set. After a Xavier service error, a Pardo-Williams block coupled with a Mannari ace ignited the charge. Williams belted consecutive kills followed by a Musketeer attack error to even the score at 17.
Xavier inched back ahead to a pair of two-point leads, the latest at 23-21, but LSU garnered back-to-back blocks involving Elliott to deadlock the ledger once again at 23-23. Another Xavier attack error in front of an Elliott kill in transition vaulted the Tigers to the gritty 25-23 victory.
Ahead 6-5 in the deciding set, the Musketeers took control of the frame with seven of the next nine points to surge ahead 13-7 capped by a Smith ace. LSU charged back to 14-11 after a Williams kill, but a service error handed Xavier the five-set win.
“Unfortunately for us, Xavier got a lot of bounces to go its way,” Flory said. “I think your create your own luck, they created some easy points for themselves. Credit Xavier because they fought hard and didn’t give us any easy opportunities. We left so many plays out on the court during the early portions of the match. The bottom line is Xavier had a little more determination and beat us.”
Xavier raced out to a 17-7 advantage during the first set and led wire-to-wire to claim a 25-17 win. The Tigers were plagued by seven attack errors and five different Musketeers slapped multiple kills. In the second set, LSU bounced back with a 25-22 win. Down 21-20, the Tigers made the critical plays down the stretch behind a pair of Elliott kills and blocks to turn the tables.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 20 ties and 10 lead changes. Both teams racked up over a .300 hitting percentage for the stanza. Xavier wiped away set points on two occasions, at 24-23 and at 25-24. Brown cranked out seven of her match-high 22 kills during the set.
LSU concludes the WKU Tournament Saturday with a 2 p.m. CT match-up with tournament host Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers (8-1), who are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25, posted a four-set win over Xavier and swept Wake Forest.
Live stats will be offered through the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
“We’re frustrated and don’t feel good about ourselves at the moment,” Flory said. “My challenge to the team is to take that feeling and channel it into some type of drive and determination. We need to finish this weekend with a win against a very good Western Kentucky team.”