Volleyball Falls to San Diego, 3-0

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team fell to San Diego 3-0 (22-25, 16-25, 22-25) Friday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU ends its non-conference schedule with an 8-3 record, and San Diego improves to 5-5 this season after picking up three sweeps in the tournament. 

The Tigers were held to a .113 hitting percentage and registered 37 kills, two aces and five blocks. The Toreros hit .254 on 41 kills and had three aces and seven blocks. LSU held the edge against USD in digs, 63-61.

“They [San Diego] were a very good serving team. They have a solid system,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “They got us to the point where we couldn’t pass due to how tough they served. I don’t think we served them very tough either. We didn’t get them out of system much, and when we did, they were very good. We got to get better and go back to the drawing board, but overall, we had a good non-conference schedule. We must learn from this match and gear up for the SEC.”

Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson landed 19 kills and had 13 digs for her sixth double-double this season in nine matches. Robinson also added two blocks. Setter Bailey Ortega distributed 29 assists and finished with seven digs and two kills. 

Libero Aly Kirkhoff and right side Jade Demps also logged double-figure digs at 13 and 12, respectively. Demps also turned in eight kills and one block. Middle blocker Jessica Jones led the team with three blocks and had three kills, one ace and four digs in the match. 

Outside hitter Nemo Beach led San Diego with 13 kills and had 11 digs to secure a double-double, and opposite Kennedy Osunsanmi followed with 12 kills. 

Set 1

Robinson scored six of LSU’s first seven points with five kills and a block but trailed San Diego 15-13 at the first media timeout. The Tigers took their first timeout down 18-14, with only three attacks from the middles. After the break, the middle blockers got involved, beginning with a kill from Jones and blocks featuring Jones, Angelina Lee, and pin hitter Laineen Pyles to cut the score to 18-17, USD. The Toreros called timeout, but a kill from Lee tied the set at 18, capping a 4-0 run. San Diego continued to hold its lead as LSU called its final timeout with a 22-20 deficit, and the visiting team took the opening set, 25-22.  

Set 2

After being down 5-2, LSU rattled off three consecutive points highlighted by back-to-back kills from Robinson to tie the set, 5-5. After trading points to an 8-8 tie, USD went on an 8-0 run to build a 16-8 advantage and burn through both LSU’s timeouts. The Toreros finished with a 10-0 run before the Tigers sideout to make the score 18-9, but USD pulled away behind an overall 17-8 run for a 25-16 victory and a 2-0 match lead.   

Set 3

LSU forced San Diego to call its first timeout as it led 10-7, but the Toreros responded with a 4-0 run to take an 11-10 lead. USD’s lead increased to 18-13, and although the Tigers pulled within one point at 22-21, the Toreros scored three of the final four points for a 25-22 win.

Up Next

LSU opens SEC play at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 27, against Missouri and then concludes the weekend with a 2 p.m. CT match versus No. 8 Texas at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. 

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