Volleyball Takes Care of North Florida in Straight Sets, Sets New Attendance Record

BATON ROUGE, La. – At the second annual Field Trip match in front of a record-setting crowd of 3,547 fans, LSU recorded its first sweep of the season inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center 25-18, 25-18, 25-19, versus North Florida Friday morning.

LSU wins its third consecutive match to improve to 8-2 this season, while North Florida falls to 3-10. LSU’s previous attendance record was 2,316 fans against South Carolina on Sept. 21, 2007.

The Tigers hit .274 on 37 kills, handed out 35 assists and had five aces. Defensively, LSU had five blocks and 52 digs to hold North Florida to a .165 hitting percentage. 

Outside hitter AC Froehlich led LSU with a career-high .474 hitting percentage with nine kills on 19 errorless attacks. Froehlich also had seven digs, an ace and a block in the match. Right side Jade Demps also hit over .400 (.438) with eight kills and had one ace and five digs. Middle blocker Angelina Lee led the team with three blocks, including two solo blocks, and added seven kills. Outside hitter Lainee Pyles and middle blocker Jessica Jones had six kills. Pyles also had a match-high three aces and added one block, and Jones had two blocks.

Setter Bailey Ortega turned in her fourth double-double this season with 27 assists and 13 digs, and libero Aly Kirkhoff led all players with 14 digs. 

North Florida’s outside hitter Mya Sopata and middle blocker Kierstyn McFall led the match with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

Set 1

It was a wire-to-wire win for LSU to open the match. The Tigers held a 15-10 lead at the first media timeout and burned through both of North Florida’s timeouts as they built a 22-16 advantage. LSU went on to win the set 25-18, hitting .357 on 12 kills and logged three aces and a block. Froehlich and Pyles led the team with three kills, and Pyles had a pair of aces. 

Set 2

The Tigers held a 6-4 lead behind a 3-0 run, and the Ospreys called their first timeout trailing 13-8. UNF pulled within two points at 19-17 when LSU called for time, but the Ospreys gifted the Tigers with a service error out of the break that sparked a 3-0 burst highlighted by back-to-back blocks, pushing LSU’s lead to 22-17. Two kills from Froehlich and a shot from Jones on the slide ended the set, giving the Tigers another 25-18 win. LSU held UNF to a .029 hitting percentage thanks to four blocks. Froehlich stayed hot offensively with four kills on nine swings with no errors and had seven kills with no errors in the match through two sets. 

Set 3

LSU opened with a 5-2 lead but called its first timeout, trailing North Florida 10-9. The Tigers responded out of the break with four unanswered points to regain the lead, 13-10, and forced the Ospreys to take a timeout. LSU’s lead crept up to five at 21-16, and although UNF trimmed the deficit back down to three points at 21-18, the Bayou Bengals ended the match on a 4-1 run for the 25-19 win. Demps took over statistically with four kills, hitting .571 on seven swings with no errors. Lee also had nine swings with no errors and landed three kills for a .333 hitting percentage.

Up Next

LSU ends the tournament with a 7 p.m. CT match versus San Diego at the PMAC on SEC Network +.

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