Volleyball Drops Epic Five-Set Battle to Troy

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team suffered a 3-2 setback to Troy despite double-double efforts from outside hitter Jurnee Robinson and middle blocker Jessica Jones on Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Troy won the battle behind a back-and-forth fifth set that featured 20 ties and 11 lead changes, resulting in a 25-23 victory for the visiting club. The Trojans took the opening set 25-21, but LSU responded with convincing wins in the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-8. The Tigers left the door open, and Troy went through it. They took the fourth set, 25-16, and ultimately outlasted the Tigers in the fifth.

LSU and Troy end the opening weekend with a 2-1 record. The Tigers held the edge in nearly every statistical category, including registering a season-high 18 blocks to Troy’s 11. LSU outhit Troy .269-.201 and had more kills (65-59), assists (63-57), and aces (3-1). The Trojans did record more digs, 67-59.

“I thought at times we played well and at other times, not so much,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “We left a crack in the door, giving them [Troy] the opportunity to get back in the match, and we played from behind after that. Regarding who played well today, I thought Angie [Lee] and Jessica [Jones] were great. You could not ask for more from your middle blockers. We must continue to find ways to get other people involved in our offense. Jurnee Robinson is our kill-getter, but we need others to step up and put balls away for us, and they must be consistent in that. I think it will make our whole dynamic better.”

Four Tigers reached double figures in kills, including Robinson, who tallied her third double-double of the weekend with 20 kills and 11 digs and had three blocks and an ace in the loss. Robinson concluded the weekend with 73 total kills and an average of 5.21 kills per set in 14 sets played.

Jones pieced together her first collegiate double-double with 12 kills and 12 blocks, becoming the first LSU Tiger to register 10 or more blocks in a match since Whitney Foreman did it versus Sam Houston State on Sept. 11, 2021. Jones was also efficient offensively, hitting .500 on 22 swings with one error.

On the right side, Jade Demps had a productive day with 13 kills, nine digs, a career-high seven blocks, and one ace. Middle blocker Angelina Lee rounded out the top point scorers with 10 kills on a .471 hitting percentage and added six blocks. Setter Bailey Ortega had 58 assists, seven digs, four blocks and three kills, and libero Aly Kirkhoff led LSU with 16 digs.

Troy had three players finish in double figures offensively, beginning with outside hitter Tori Hester, who had a match-high 24 kills and added 12 digs. Outside hitters, Amiah Butler had 12 kills in the match, and Olivia Kwiatkowski had 11.

Set 1

LSU grabbed its first lead at 9-8 and went into the media timeout with a 15-14 advantage behind five kills from Demps. Following the stoppage, the Trojans dialed an 8-1 run, including five unanswered points to take a 22-16 lead that forced a Tigers timeout. LSU kept the pressure on with a 4-0 run to pull within two points at 22-20, but Troy scored on three of the next four points to win the set 25-21.

Set 2

The Tigers and Trojans played a tight opening set before LSU created some distance with a 6-1 run punctuated by back-to-back blocks by Robinson and Jones, building a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Jones landed a kill out of the break to further an eventual 11-3 scoring margin to put the Tigers ahead 20-13 and encourage a Trojan timeout. Troy used its final timeout, trailing 22-16, but it was to no avail as LSU won the set 25-18 and ended the set on a 3-0 run. The Tigers’ front line posted six blocks, holding the Trojans to a -.029 hitting percentage. Jones led the way with four blocks, and Robinson paced the Tigers offensively with five kills.   

Set 3

The run from the previous set rolled into the third as LSU scored the first three points of the stanza and led 6-1 when Troy signaled for its first timeout and 11-2 when it used its final timeout. LSU could do no wrong in the set as they ran away with a 17-point 25-8 victory to lead the match 2-1. Troy hit under .000 at -.074 for the second consecutive set, while LSU hit .682 with 15 kills on 22 errorless swings. 

Set 4

In a dramatic change of events, Troy picked itself up and pulled off a 25-16 win to extend the match to a fifth set. Jones led the Tigers with five kills on seven swings with no errors (.714 hitting percentage), but the home team hit .077 in the set as the Trojans hit .345 to steal the momentum. 

Set 5

Each team traded points to a 7-7 tie, and Troy held the 8-7 lead when the teams flipped the court. A service error by the Trojans tied the set at eight, and a block by Jones and Demps put LSU ahead 9-8. However, the home team needed to call a timeout after Troy took a late 12-10 behind a 3-0 run. Troy battled its way to match point at 14-12, but a kill by Lee and outside hitter AC Froehlich tied the set at 14 to extend the contest. From there, both teams traded blows, creating nine ties to 23-23 before the Trojans logged back-to-back kills to earn the 25-23 victory. 

Up Next

LSU travels to North Carolina to play Duke, Florida International and Davidson on Sept. 5-7 at Cameron Indoor Stadium hosted by Duke.

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