LSU Gold

Volleyball Falls on the Road at Missouri

by Chelsey Chamberlain
Box Score +0
Volleyball Falls on the Road at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The LSU volleyball team (177, 8-5 SEC) fell in straight sets on the road at Missouri (16-9, 9-3 SEC) on Sunday afternoon in the Hearnes Center.

Sophomore Milan Stokes came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 13 kills. Freshman Taylor Bannister chipped in eight kills while sophomore Jacqui Armer added seven. Freshman Raigen Cianciulli led the back row with eight digs while sophomore Anna Zwiebel dished out 28 assists.

Fran’s Final Thoughts
“We just could never get going. I thought Taylor (Bannister) had a nice match and I thought Milan (Stokes) was a great spark off the bench. She really brought the intensity. But we didn’t play enough defense and weren’t efficient offensively. I thought our first-ball contact, serve receive was good and we played fairly clean. Today, they (Missouri) were better than us.”

Opening Set
The opening set was tied up early 4-4, but Missouri went on a 3-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. LSU only scored four more points until the media timeout as Missouri led 15-8. LSU trailed 16-10 but went on a 4-2 run to bring them within four, 18-14. Missouri finished out the set on a 7-2 run to take the first set 25-16.

Set Two
In a set that was tied 12 times and have five lead changes, LSU started the set strong, jumping out to a 6-2 lead and forcing Missouri to take a timeout. Missouri fought back to come within one, 7-6 but LSU pushed their lead up to 11-7 after a kill by Milan Stokes. The set was tied at 11-11 but Missouri took a 13-11 lead. The two teams went back and forth before LSU went on a 4-0 run to retake the lead, 21-20. Another run gave LSU a 24-22 but Missouri fought back to tie the set up at 24-24. After trading points, Missouri put three in a row together to take the set 28-26 and lead the match 2-0.

Set Three
In the third set, LSU struggled to get going as it trailed Missouri 7-3. LSU came within two but Missouri went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-6 lead and forced LSU to take a timeout. Missouri took an 18-10 lead and pushed its lead to 24-13. LSU held off Missouri for two-straight match points but LSU fell in the third set 25-15.

Next Up
The Tigers will be on the road next week, traveling to Mississippi State. The Tigers will take on the Bulldogs Friday at 3 p.m. CT in the Newell-Grissom Building. The match will air on the SEC Network+. Fans can access the match on at WatchESPN.com or by using the app.   

Volleyball Social Center
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 and @lsuvolleyball on Instagram.