STARKVILLE, Miss. – Michele Williams powered home 14 of her 16 kills and connected for a .357 hitting percentage following the first set to lift the LSU volleyball team from a two-set deficit and down a match-point to snatch a 3-2 comeback victory [15-25, 26-28, 26-24, 25-15, 15-11] over Mississippi State Sunday at the Newell-Grissom Building.
LSU (15-8, 8-5 SEC) snapped a two-match losing streak and moved into a first-place tie with Arkansas in the SEC Western Division race. It also marked the first time that the Tigers erased a 2-0 hole going back to the Kentucky match in October 2007, a span of 16 consecutive outings when behind by two sets.
In the process, Williams became the 18th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills. She is the first Tiger to accomplish the impressive feat in the current 25-point rally scoring format. LSU has had five players reach the milestone since 2007.
“Michele came in with a different level of determination during today’s match,” head coach Fran Flory said. “She wasn’t feeling her best, but she battled through like a true senior does. I couldn’t be more proud of Michele not only for that but for reaching 1,000 career kills. It’s a testament to all of her hard work. Michele is a special player, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to coach her. She’s been a difference maker for our program and a big part of our success.”
“Michele is a great senior and works extremely hard,” Jones said. “She knows exactly what to say to get the most out of everyone on the team. We’re extremely happy for her, and we know she’ll continue to play her best when the matches count the most at the end of the season.”
Madie Jones and Desiree Elliott also played gigantic roles in the comeback. Jones ripped 12 of her team-best 18 kills on a .385 clip, while Elliott provided eight of her 12 spikes during the final three sets. Elliott garnered a match-high six blocks from the front line.
“Our team certainly has a lot of trust in Madie,” Flory said. “She got off to a little bit of a slow start, but we were able to get her a rhythm starting in the third set. The key was finding her the right swings in the right tempo. When she’s good, Madie is awfully difficult to defend.”
Malorie Pardo handed out a match-high 55 assists to go along with 10 kills to secure her team-leading ninth double-double of the season. She also popped a career-high three kills.
Helen Boyle and Nicole Willis tacked on eight kills each. For Willis, she tallied seven of her eight spikes during sets three and five. Boyle grinded out 13 digs and added two aces.
“This team was in the middle of a confidence crisis, and we needed a match like this to break out of it,” Flory said. “To be able to fight through and endure against a very good Mississippi State team on its homecourt, I can’t say enough about how determined our kids were in the later stages of this match.”
LSU’s back row registered a 69-53 advantage in the digs department. Sam Delahoussaye led the charge with 14 scoops whereas Meghan Mannari corralled 13 digs for the Tigers.
Mississippi State’s (10-13, 5-9 SEC) Caitlin Rance turned in a strong all-around effort. She blasted a match-high 22 kills, notched 11 digs and garnered five blocks. Hannah Wilkinson cranked 11 kills on a .417 hitting ratio. During LSU’s 3-0 win earlier this season, the Tigers limited Rance and Wilkinson to a combined 10 kills.
All square at 10 apiece after MSU tallied three straight points in the deciding fifth set, LSU bounced back behind a critical Boyle kill off the Bulldog block following a timeout. Elliott and Pardo stuffed Rance on the next play. The Tigers then forced Rance into another hitting mistake to build a 13-10 edge. After a MSU sideout, Jones slapped consecutive kills to vault LSU to the winners circle by a 15-11 margin.
“We definitely had some confidence issues coming in after we lost two matches in a row,” Jones said. “This win was a total team effort with different players stepping up at different times being the go-to. That’s what so great about our team that we’re all willing and capable of taking on that big load. It was huge for us to turn it around. We need to learn from this experience and excel from here-on-out. We’ll have to fight hard and play together down the stretch to reach our goals.”
Facing a two-set deficit and a 23-20 hole during the third frame, LSU ran off six of the final seven points to garner a gritty 26-24 victory. After a MSU setting error, the Tigers pulled even at 23-23 after a Jones kill and a Boyle ace. The Bulldogs arrived at match-point following a Boyle service miscue, but Jones fired back with a sideout spike to deadlock the tally at 24-24. Willis and Williams teamed for a block, while Williams ripped a kill to finish off set three.
LSU rode the momentum into the fourth stanza. The Tigers ripped off 10 consecutive points and turned a one-point margin at 7-6 into a commanding 16-7 advantage. LSU’s defense held MSU to four kills coupled with a match-best nine hitting errors for the frame.
The Bulldogs claimed the first two sets 25-15 and 28-26 highlighted by a .444 attack clip in the opening stanza. MSU also turned away three second set points and forced LSU into a combined 21 hitting errors during the first two frames.
LSU finishes up a run of six straight matches versus the SEC Western Division and visits Auburn on Friday. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. from the Student Activities Center.
Live audio and live stats for the Auburn match are offered inside the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net, while in-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at LSU Volleyball on Facebook or http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.