BATON ROUGE – Desiree Elliott pounded home 10 kills, but No. 2 Texas rode a .417 hitting percentage to sweep the LSU volleyball team by a 25-12, 25-19, 25-19 margin during the season opener for both teams at the 26 West Longhorns Classic Friday in-front of 2,107 fans inside Gregory Gym.
In addition to 10 kills, Elliott came away with three digs and a block in her first match as a six-rotation player. Madie Jones tallied nine kills, four digs and a pair of aces. Helen Boyle and Cati Leak garnered six kills apiece on identical .150 hitting ratios. Leak along with Khourni Fears, Katie Lindelow and Haley Smith made their debuts for the Purple and Gold.
Malorie Pardo handed out 31 assists, but LSU’s (0-1) offense was limited to a .153 hitting percentage along with 44 percent sideout efficiency. Meghan Mannari registered a team-leading nine digs.
“We played safe, and we knew from the beginning it was going to be ugly if this match turned into a Texas style of match,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We were not able to maintain our side, and our style of play. Unfortunately, we could not execute at a high enough level. Credit Texas a lot of credit, they are awfully good and play very physical. They used their athleticism and hit over the top of us for most of the match.”
The Longhorns (1-0) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 31 matches and were paced by Haley Eckerman, the reigning AVCA National Freshmen of the Year. She powered home on a .429 clip and was joined in double figure spikes by Bailey Webster, who added 10 kills and three blocks. Sha’Dare McNeal popped nine kills on 13 swings to claim a .692 ratio, while Khat Bell tacked on eight kills and recorded five blocks.
Texas claimed a 10-2 blocking edge and a 48-38 advantage in the digs department. Kat Brooks and Sarah Palmer collected 13 and 12 scoops, respectively.
“You have to be a risk taker in these types of matches,” Flory said. “I don’t think we did a great job of attacking their weaknesses and playing with the necessary faith in our abilities. It’s the first match of the season. I thought our freshmen held their own. They did a nice job, and their stats don’t show the effort they put forth in my opinion.”
The Longhorns raced out to a 12-3 lead in the first set and made the most of six early LSU attack errors. The Tigers trimmed the deficit down to seven points on two occasions, the latest at 19-12 on a Leak kill. Out of the timeout, Texas responded with six consecutive points to claim the opening frame.
LSU regrouped and stormed out to an 8-4 advantage capped by an Elliott-Pardo stuff on Eckerman to start set two. The Longhorns fired back with nine of the next 11 points to capture a 13-10 edge. The two teams went back-and-forth and an Elliott kill kept the tally at 21-18 before Texas reeled off four of the final points of the stanza for the 25-19 win.
Out of the locker room, the Longhorns kept the momentum and built a 12-5 lead to start the third set. LSU ran off 10 of the next 14 to charge back within 16-15. The run was finished off by Boyle and Elliott along with a Mannari ace. Eckerman finished with a flurry of four kills to enable the Longhorns to close out the sweep with a 25-19 victory.
“This team is going to come together,” Flory said. “It could happen as soon as tomorrow morning because we have the opportunity to gain some confidence and get a different drive about us. San Diego is very talented. They run a fast-physical style of offense like we do. I have a lot of confidence in our group to bounce back and throw tonight out. What’s done is done, we’ll put it together and be ready in the morning.”
LSU concludes the 26 West Longhorns Classic Saturday against No. 19 San Diego and Cal Poly. First serve is scheduled for 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. Both matches will have live audio and live stats available for free inside the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @lsuvolleyball and @lsucoachfran on Twitter.
Admission to all 2012 home matches at the Maravich Center are free compliments of the Advocate’s “Geaux Free” program.