BATON ROUGE – In a battle between undefeated SEC Divisional leaders, No. 23 Tennessee emerged with a 3-1 decision [17-25, 25-23, 21-25, 14-25] over the LSU volleyball team Friday in-front of a rowdy 1,581 fans at the Maravich Center.
The 1,581 fans was the eight-highest crowd in program history as the Tigers (10-4, 3-1 SEC) had their four-match winning streak over Tennessee (12-2, 5-0 SEC) dating back to 2008 come to a close.
“When we walked in the building having the crowd start a ‘Geaux Tigers’ chant from side-to-side before the match even started, I thought this arena could have been electric tonight,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I think at times it was, but we did not really carry the load on the court for the fans. I have to say thank you to the students and thank you to our fans. They stuck with us and provided the right atmosphere. I wish we could have played a little better and got them really excited.”
Mary Pollmiller fueled three Tennessee hitters to double-digit kills en route to a match-best 50 assists to go along with 13 digs. Kelsey Robinson pounded home a match-high 20 kills and tacked on 10 digs. The Lady Vols also received sparks from Leslie Cikra and DeeDee Harrison, who combined for 26 kills on a crisp .333 hitting percentage and recorded 12 blocks.
LSU countered with 11 kills apiece from Desiree Elliott and Madie Jones. The duo has reached double digit spikes in 10 and seven straight outings, respectively. Helen Boyle provided a balanced effort with nine kills, 14 digs and four blocks.
Malorie Pardo nearly tallied a double-double and handed out 38 assists coupled with nine digs. LSU came away with a 13.0-9.5 blocking edge highlighted by Michele Williams‘ eight stuffs.
On the back row, Lauren Waclawczyk sprawled out for a season-high 18 digs for the Tigers. Meghan Mannari chipped in with 17 digs to claim her eight consecutive double figure digs effort.
Tennessee limited LSU to 44 kills on a .163 hitting percentage with strong defensive play. Carly Sahagian reeled in a match-best 23 digs followed by Ellen Mullins’ 15 scoops.
The Lady Vols claimed the serve-pass battle and notched four of the five aces during the match. Tennessee also sided out at a 70 percent clip (55-for-78) compared to LSU’s 55 percent ratio (54-for-97).
“They (Tennessee) played a very physical style,” Flory said. “Credit to us that we matched them defensively. What I was a little worried about coming into the match was that we would not be able to with stand them physically in long rallies because they come at you from every position. They are strong, they are big and they play high. But I thought our defense did a great job, the problem was our offensive efficiency was not there tonight.”
Tennessee raced out behind 10 of the first 15 points of the opening set and never looked back to come away with a 25-17 win. LSU was in striking distance after an Elliott-Pardo block made it 15-12, but Robinson charged back to pop six kills in the frame for the Lady Vols.
The Tigers turned the tables during set two behind a quartet of blocks, all involving Williams to build a 17-10 advantage. Tennessee crept back to within one point on three occasions, the latest at 23-22. LSU regrouped to score two of the final three points capped by a Jones crosscourt spike to secure the 25-23 triumph.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 14 ties, but Tennessee never relinquished the lead during the frame. Deadlocked at 20-20, the Lady Vols used a strong finishing kick to escape with a 25-21 victory. Robinson ripped two kills, and UT also capitalized on a pair of LSU hitting miscues.
The Lady Vols exploded for 21 kills and an impressive .594 hitting percentage in set four. Cikra and Harrison led the charge and connected on 12 of their 14 swings. After falling behind 14-8, LSU pulled within four points five times, but Tennessee notched the final seven points of the match to win going away, 25-14.
“We got in there, got stuck at times but we dug our hearts out tonight,” Waclawczyk said. “It sticks with you because we couldn’t pull out the win. I want to give credit to their outsides [Kelsey Robinson and Leslie Cikra], they played phenomenal tonight. Overall, I thought overall it was a good fight.We just couldn’t come up with it at the end. We just couldn’t seem to make the plays when it counted at the end especially in the third set.”
LSU concludes its three-match homestand Sunday with another tough match-up versus Kentucky, who is receiving votes in the latest edition of the AVCA Top 25 poll. First serve is on-tap for 1:30 p.m. inside the Maravich Center.
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. The first 500 in attendance will receive a LSU volleyball static cling for their automobiles.
Live video and live stats are 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.
Fans can participate one last time in the 2011 SEC Together We CAN Food Drive by bringing canned goods to the Maravich Center. The canned goods collected at Sunday’s match by LSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will benefit the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
For every home match, LSU volleyball also will be collecting books as part of its season-long book drive to benefit Everybody Reads Program through Volunteer in Public Schools. Fans are asked to bring new or used elementary level books to help local students. For more information, visit www.lsusports.net/geauxbooks.
Volleyball Postmatch Quotes
LSU vs. No. 23 Tennessee – September 30, 2011
LSU HEAD COACH FRAN FLORY
On the crowd …
“When we walked in the building having the crowd start a ‘Geaux Tigers’ chant from side-to-side before the match even started, I thought this arena could have been electric tonight, and I think at times it was. We did not really carry the load on the court for the fans. I have to say thank you to the students and thank you to our fans. They stuck with us and provided the right atmosphere. I wish we could have played a little better and got them really excited.”
On the tough match …
“They (Tennessee) played a very physical style. Credit to us that we matched them defensively. What I was a little worried about coming into the match was that we would not be able to with stand them physically. They come at you from every position. They are strong, they are big, they play high, but I thought our defense did a great job. The problem was our offensive efficiency was not there tonight.”
On Tennessee’s sideout percentage in the last two sets …
“We did a great job of serving in the second set and took them out of their rhythm. Then we backed off and became a little more conservative. You have to credit them because they answered. We started set three serving aggressive, then they got into a comfort zone and we could never break them again. The bottom line for all matches is that who wins the serving, passing game is going to win the match most of the time. Certainly, tonight the serve-pass battle was on their side.”
On Madie Jones …
“Madie (Jones) had some nice streaks, but there was not a consistent level throughout the match. Usually when we need to have big swings, Madie comes through. I thought they were able to put us in a position and put her in a position that she was not able to come through for us. That was unfortunate for Madie, but it was a great fight by our team. I am really proud of how hard we fought.”
On the defensive effort …
“Sunshine (Lauren Waclawcyk) having 18 digs playing only three rotations is a really nice feat for us. She was very prepared and very invested into this match like she has been all season. If we had a few better touches during some of the longer rallies then we would have been a little bit better.”
On her message to the team …
“We have to bounce back for Sunday against a very talented Kentucky group. This is not the end of the world, it is one match. It was a match against a team that has a chance to do some special things this season. I was proud of our effort. I am upset with the loss, but I am not upset with our effort. Things that we did not do well are things that we can fix. We will get in the gym tomorrow and see if we can recover.”
DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST LAUREN WACLAWCZYK
On the match as a whole …
“Overall, I thought overall it was a good fight, we just couldn’t come up with it at the end. I think we fought, fought, fought, hung in there, hung in there, hung in there. We just couldn’t seem to make the plays when it counted at the end especially in the third set.”
On what needs to be done to bounce back Sunday…
“Our next focus is going to be Kentucky. It’s going to be another huge match for us, and we are going to have to bounce back as a team. That’s going to be the main part, bouncing back as a team. We have to look at this as just one loss because we have a long season to still play. That did nothing to us. We still have our goals set high, and we’re going to bounce back against Kentucky, that’s the important thing.”
On the atmosphere…
“It’s always great to have the fans in here. It’s my favorite place that I’ve ever played and it feels good to have such a good turnout tonight, especially the students. It felt so good to have them be involved and have them make this a home court advantage. It feels good to play back at home and there’s nothing like playing here.”
On going against Tennessee’s balance attack…
“We got in there, got stuck at times but we dug our hearts out tonight. It sticks with you because we couldn’t pull out the win. I want to give credit to their outsides [Kelsey Robinson and Leslie Cikra], they played phenomenal tonight. Then they started bringing their middles in, so they had a nice balanced attack. We’re just going to have to get better.”