BATON ROUGE – LSU’s offense exploded for a .403 team hitting percentage, its best effort since opening weekend, as the Tiger volleyball team had a quartet of players post double figure kills during a 3-1 triumph over Georgia [25-18, 19-25, 25-16, 25-13] Friday in the program’s annual Pink Match to promote breast cancer awareness at the Maravich Center.
LSU (12-6, 5-3) picked up its sixth straight win over the Bulldogs (8-11, 4-5 SEC) as Malorie Pardo produced a match-high 49 assists to go along with nine digs. The League City, Texas, native was just shy of her team-leading seventh double-double of the season.
“We had to bounce back, our pride was hurt a little bit after the Florida match,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I credit our players because they worked really hard this week in practice. We know that taking care of our home court conference matches are the keys to success in championship type seasons. Our team takes pride in playing on our home court. Certainly, they did of protecting tonight.”
Desiree Elliott, Madie Jones, Michele Williams and Nicole Willis each pounded home double figures in kills to combine for 48 of LSU’s 59 spikes on the match. All four players connected for over a .300 hitting percentage.
Jones led the way with a match-high 16 kills, turned in four digs and added three blocks. Elliott belted 12 kills on 17 swings with only one error for a match-high .647 ratio. Williams and Willis knocked 10 kills apiece. It marked the first time that Willis reached double digit kills since SEC opening weekend at Alabama back on Sept. 18.
Meghan Mannari fueled the back row with a match-best 17 digs, her 15th time in 17 appearances she has corralled 10 or more digs on the season. Sam Delahoussaye and Helen Boyle reeled in 10 digs each as LSU’s back row held a commanding 63-39 digs advantage.
The Tiger defense was major factor and limited Georgia to a minuscule .122 hitting clip. Brittany Northcutt and Kathleen Luft, who entered the match among the SEC’s Top 10 in kills per set, were held below their season averages and finished with nine spikes each.
“We were definitely ready to get back on the winning side,” Jones said. “We had great week at practice; we were going really hard every day in the gym, regrouping, and coming together as a team. I am really proud of how we played tonight, and we still have ways to go. It definitely has something to do with how we prepared.”
The first set featured 10 ties and five lead changes before LSU ran off 12 of the last 17 points of the set to win going away, 25-18. All square at 13-13, the Tigers heated up with five straight points capped by a Williams kill to make it 18-13. UGA trimmed the deficit down to four points on three occasions, the latest at 20-16, but LSU used a Willis spike to put away the frame. The Tigers recorded a team-high 78 percent sideout efficiency during the opening stanza.
The Bulldogs strung together the first four points to come back during set two. Georgia led wire-to-wire as the Tigers were never to find their rhythm. The Bulldogs made the most of five LSU’s serving miscues and converted on 17-of-20 sideouts attempts. A Gates ace allowed UGA to claim a 25-19 win and evened the match at a set apiece heading into the locker room.
LSU came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders and fired out to a quick 12-4 advantage to start the third set. Boyle, Elliott, Jones and Willis slapped two kills each to spark the run. The Bulldogs got back to 17-11, but the Tigers responded with eight of the final 13 points to clinch the 25-16 victory. LSU’s offense racked up a match-bests with 16 kills and a .556 hitting percentage during the set.
The Tigers kept up their strong play in the opening parts of the fourth stanza and secured 10 of the first 13 points of the frame. LSU received five kills off of Jones’ powerful right arm and ran away with a dominating 25-13 performance. The Tiger defense forced Georgia into a match-high eight hitting mistakes as the final two frames featured only one tie and zero lead changes.
“We have been struggling offensively and were really disappointed in what we were doing,” Flory said. “We got back into the gym this week, and decided to work a lot on defense. We left our offense alone this week because I felt we were pushing too hard. They came out and did a fantastic job tonight of the offensive side. Our hitters did a great job of not only managing opportunities but creating scoring shots. That’s what we preach; it doesn’t have to be hard as long as the end result is that the ball hits the floor.”
LSU continues its four-match homestand Sunday versus Auburn in a key SEC Western Division contest. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. inside the Maravich Center. The match will be televised live by CST with Lyn Rollins and Garrett Walvoord on the call. The first 500 fans will receive LSU volleyball koozies.
Live stats for Sunday’s match are offered inside 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.
For every home match, the Tigers 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.
Volleyball Postmatch Quotes
LSU vs. Georgia – October 14, 2011
Head Coach Fran Flory
On the offense…
“We have been struggling offensively and were really disappointed in what we were doing. We got back into the gym this week, and decided to work a lot on defense. We left our offense alone this week because I felt we were pushing too hard. I think we put too much pressure on our kids. We just discussed the fact that they were making too many unforced offensive errors. They came out and did a fantastic job tonight of the offensive side. I thought Malorie Pardo was a little shaky, but our hitters did a great job of not only managing opportunities but creating scoring shots. That’s what we preach; it doesn’t have to be hard all the time as long as the end result is that the ball hits the floor. I also thought we did a nice job on following the game plan tonight.”
On the impact of home matches…
“We had to bounce back, our pride was hurt a little bit after the Florida match. I credit our players because they worked really hard this week in practice. We know that taking care of our home court conference matches are the keys to success in championship type seasons. Our team takes pride in playing on our home court. Certainly, they did of protecting tonight.”
On the back row…
“I think passing wise we were a little hesitant, I was a little disappointed. Georgia served us differently, and they didn’t have the pace on the ball that we’ve trained our kids with. The different tempo gave us trouble. The ball seemed to hang on us a bit, and we got impatient at times. This was a good teaching and learning opportunity for our team. I expect that we should handle that situation better. I was certainly happy with our defense. We dug a lot of balls, we created opportunities and we fought through plays. A big key for our defense was we kept our team in rallies and that is our signature.”
On the upcoming match against Auburn…
“Auburn is a much improved team, they’re going to be ready for us. They have been a little bit of a roller coaster with their season. As we get into October, all of those teams that have been bouncing back and forth are going to get stabilized, and become consistent. Auburn is one of those teams, Rick [Nold] is a great coach, and he has some wonderful players. They’re going to come in here with a point to prove. We are going to have to work really hard tomorrow, and do a great job of getting the game plan together and making sure our kids are mentally prepared.”
Outside Hitter Madie Jones
On the offense…
“First off, we were getting some great digs, the defense did a great job tonight. Also, Malorie was putting us in a good position to use Georgia’s block to our advantage. Swinging high hands was a major thing that helped us score a lot of points in this match. It was something we worked on all week in practice.”
On playing at home…
“We are definitely ready to get back on the winning side. We had great week at practice; we were going really hard every day in the gym, regrouping, and coming together as a team. It was definitely a great atmosphere at home and get closer towards one of our goals which is to win the SEC West. I am really proud of how we played tonight, and we still have ways to go. It definitely has something to do with how we prepared.”
On Nicole Willis…
“When Nicole plays, she is all in. She is always smiling, so supportive, and really there for everyone as a great teammate. I love when she is putting balls down, having a fun time and blocking. That’s what she did tonight. She came through for us, and I’m really proud of her.”
On the next match with Auburn…
I am definitely excited to play Auburn on Sunday, it is going to be a really competitive match. We know some people on their team; they know some people on our team. It’s a great SEC rivalry and it is going to be really important for us to regroup tomorrow. We need to get some rest tonight, and have a great practice tomorrow morning. We have to prepare because the Auburn match is just as important as tonight’s match was.”