BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team took the first set, but No. 19 Florida fought back to emerge with a four-set decision [25-23, 14-25, 21-25, 12-25] Friday in-front of a spirited 1,243 fans on Senior Night at the Maravich Center.
Following the match, LSU (17-9, 10-6 SEC) honored its seniors Lauren Waclawczyk and Michele Williams for their contributions to the program. Waclawczyk is one of 11 players to amass over 1,000 career digs, while Williams is among the 18 players in program history to power home over 1,000 career kills.
“It was a special night for the team,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I thought our team played very hard. We played with a nice demeanor, but we just could not make the play we had to make. Florida made the plays and took us out of what we wanted to do. We had a very simple game plan, we felt like it worked and certainly in the first set it did. Then, instead of just continuing to execute the game plan we started trying to win the match and do more than we needed to do.”
LSU was paced by Madie Jones‘ 13 kills. She was joined in double figures by Desiree Elliott, who popped 12 kills and tacked on five blocks. Malorie Pardo turned in a balanced effort with a match-high 42 assists, four digs and three blocks.
Michele Williams chipped in nine kills and three blocks for the Tigers. Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, Helen Boyle, along with Nicole Willis garnered seven kills each.
Meghan Mannari reeled in 20 digs to spark LSU’s defense. It was eighth time on the season that Mannari eclipsed 20-plus scoops. Sam Delahoussaye corralled 12 digs, while Lauren Waclawczyk secured six scoops as the Tigers were outdug for only the seventh time in 2011.
“Our blocking did an amazing job the first set, and it wasn’t that they did a bad job in the other sets,” Waclawczyk said. “You just have to give credit to Florida; they have a great offense and that is why they are one of the best teams in the nation. They are so diverse. We put a great effort out.”
Florida (20-5, 13-3 SEC) was fueled by Chloe Mann’s record-breaking performance. She belted 18 kills on 20 swings for a blistering .900 hitting percentage. The .900 clip was not only a SEC single-match record, but tied for second in NCAA history for players with more than 20 swings during a match.
“We had no answer for her,” Flory said. “It was very frustrating sitting on the bench trying to get our middles to respond. As a coaching staff if you have someone put up those numbers, it is your job to teach and coach your kids through that match. The key was that she wasn’t predictable; she hit right, she hit left, she tipped and she had a knack for picking the right shot at the right time. Credit Mary [Wise] and her coaching staff, they had her well prepared. I think she makes their team a whole lot better.”
LSU bottled up UF’s top offensive hitter, Kristy Jaeckel, to only five kills and a negative .069 hitting ratio. The five spikes equaled a season-low, and the last time Jaeckel was forced into a negative attack percent was against South Carolina in October 2010. She posted a career-high 20 digs on the defensive end.
Stephanie Ferrell and Tangerine Wiggs cranked 10 and nine kills, respectively. Wiggs had her hands in a part of a match-high six blocks for the Gators.
Kelly Murphy filled the box score en route to 22 assists to go along with eight kills, seven digs and two blocks. The Gators finished with 54 kills on a .303 hitting percentage, and forced LSU’s into 30 hitting miscues to total a .119 hitting clip.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening stanza behind a pair of Boyle kills and an Elliott spike. An Elliott-Willis block on Murphy allowed LSU to maintain a 9-6 edge. Florida ran off three straight points capped by a Murphy kill to even the tally at 9-9. The Gators crept out an 18-16 advantage after a Willis hitting error. LSU regrouped with an 8-3 spurt turn the tables and surge ahead 24-21. Jones and Boyle cranked a pair of kill each to spark the charge. Florida pulled back to 24-23 before Jones buried a kill for the decisive blow and propel LSU to a 25-23 triumph.
The two teams split the first 20 points of set two. Florida took control of the frame and reeled off eight consecutive points. Mann slapped two kills, while the Gator defense forced LSU into five hitting mistakes. A Ferrell kill pushed Florida to a 25-14 victory and evened the match at a set each heading into locker room.
The Gators maintained a slim margin throughout the majority of the third set. With Florida ahead 20-17, LSU pieced together a Boyle kill and received an Elliott-Pardo block on Ferrell to draw back to within one points. After a timeout, the Gators benefited from a Ferrell out-of-system kill coupled with three straight LSU hitting miscues aided by Murphy strong serves to push points to 24-19. The Tigers erased two set points highlighted by a Boyle spike, but Florida escaped with a 25-21 win.
The Gators continued to turn up the defensive player behind a trio of blocks to race out to a 15-6 lead to open set four. Florida connected for a match-high .391 hitting percentage, and LSU committed a match-high nine hitting errors as the Gators claimed a 25-12 decision.
“The team fought hard,” Waclawczyk said. “That is all I could ask for out of everyone. The fight that the girls showed was so honorable, and I’m so happy to be on the court with them. We pulled out the first set, and it was so much fun. It seemed so easy and simple. That shows the signs of this team growing. Coach Flory always says that our best volleyball is still to come. I think a little bit of it showed today.”
LSU welcomes South Carolina for a Sunday matinee at the Maravich Center. First serve is on-tap for 1:30 p.m. and the first 500 fans will receive a LSU volleyball bookmark in honor of “Geaux Books” Day.
Live video and live stats 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 match, LSU will be collecting books as part of its season-long book drive, “Geaux Books”, to benefit the Everybody Reads Program through Volunteer in Public Schools. Fans are asked to bring new or used elementary level books to help local students.