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Tigers Drown Tulane, Sweeps Weekend Tournament

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Tigers Drown Tulane, Sweeps Weekend Tournament

NEW ORLEANS – LSU (6-4) swept its way through the Tulane Invitational as they knocked off Tulane (5-6) 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 Saturday night at Fogelman Arena.

Three Tigers earned a spot on the Tulane Invitational Tournament Team, including outside hitter Sanaa Dotson, middle blocker Anita Anwusi and libero Ella Larkin.

LSU hit .330 in the match while holding Tulane to a .170 attacking percentage. The Tigers won nearly every statistical category including kills (44-37), assists (40-31), digs (49-37) and blocks (4-3). Tulane did record four aces in the match compared to LSU’s three.

“We competed well,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “I knew Tulane would come out with a lot of energy, but our kids did a good job of not being too high or getting too low. We came out and played steady against them [Tulane]. This weekend overall, we did some great things defensively and was able to get our middles involved which is something we have been trying to make happen for the last two or three weeks. It was a good way to close out our non-conference schedule.”

Dotson hit .324 for the second consecutive match and recorded 16 kills. She also matched a game-high nine digs with defensive specialist Jill Bohnet and Larkin and had one ace in the win. Jacobs logged a career-high .667 hitting percentage behind 10 kills on 15 errorless swings and had two blocks.

Setter Josie Vondran directed the Tiger offense with 23 assists, while freshman Maddie Waak had 13 assists in the win. Both Vondran and Waak had one ace.

Set 1

  • LSU had an early 5-2 lead until a 6-1 run gave Tulane an 8-6 advantage. The Green Wave led 11-8 when the Tigers called their first timeout.
  • The Tigers came out of the timeout on a 5-0 run to regain a 13-11 lead, forcing Tulane to spend its first timeout. The run continued as LSU expanded its margin 16-11 before the Green Wave scored again.
  • Tulane cut LSU’s lead down to three points multiple times, but the Tigers held their ground and claimed a 25-19 win. LSU ended the set on a 3-0 run.
  • LSU hit .500 in the set and tallied 12 kills on 22 swings with just one error. They also logged three blocks and held Tulane to a .097 hitting percentage in the set.
  • Dotson, outside hitter Paige Flickinger and Jacobs each finished the set with three kills and Jacobs had two blocks.

Set 2

  • Both clubs exchanged points and runs to a 6-6 tie, but the Green Wave scored five of the next seven points to go ahead 11-8 when LSU burned its first timeout of the set.
  • The Tigers responded out of a timeout once again with four unanswered points to take a 12-11 lead. LSU pieced together an overall 8-2 run and led 16-13 when Tulane requested a timeout.
  • Despite trailing by as many as five points late, Tulane roared back and pulled within one point at 23-22 when LSU used its final timeout of the set. LSU would not relinquish its lead however and took a commanding 2-0 lead after a 25-23 set win.
  • Jacobs hit .625 in the frame with five kills on eight errorless attacks, while Dotson and Flickinger followed with four and three kills, respectively.

Set 3

  • A 4-1 run by the Tigers gave them an 11-8 lead and forced a Green Wave timeout in the early stages of the stanza.
  • LSU was the first to 15 and led 15-10 when Tulane went on a 5-2 run to make it a two-point match at 17-15. The Tigers scored five unanswered points to bump the lead back to 22-15 when the Green Wave used its final timeout.
  • Although Tulane scored three of the next four points, back-to-back kills from Dotson ended the set with a 25-18 LSU win.
  • Dotson shined in the third set as she finished with nine kills with a .316 hitting percentage.

Up Next

LSU opens SEC play with a 7 p.m. match against Arkansas on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

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