Volleyball Falls to Ole Miss, 3-1
LSU returns to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for matches against Oklahoma (Oct. 11) and Texas A&M (Oct. 13). SEC Network + will stream both matches.
OXFORD, Miss. – LSU dropped a 3-1 (20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 19-25) decision to Ole Miss Sunday afternoon in the Gillom Center.
LSU falls to 9-6 overall and 1-3 in the SEC, while Ole Miss moves to 12-3 and 2-1 in league play.
The Tigers logged 12 blocks, marking the third time this season they have reached double-digit blocks. Offensively, they hit .150 on 44 kills and recorded two aces. Ole Miss hit .264 on the day with 59 kills, five aces and 10 blocks.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson led LSU with 13 kills. Robinson also had eight digs and three blocks, including two solo blocks. Outside hitter Lainee Pyles finished with 11 kills. Middle blocker Angelina Lee had eight kills and had a career-high .538 hitting percentage. She also added four blocks, including a career-best three solo blocks. Middle blocker Jessica Jones led the team with six blocks and notched a season-high three solo blocks to add to her seven kills.
Setter Bailey Ortega handed out 37 assists and had seven digs and two kills, and libero Aly Kirkhoff led the Tigers with 17 digs.
Ole Miss outside hitter Nia Washington had a match-high 28 kills and hit .404 on the day while also tallying two aces, one block and six digs, and setter Mokihana Tufono had a double-double with 50 assists and 11 digs.
Set 1
Ole Miss built a 5-2 lead thanks to an early 3-0 run and led 15-11 at the media timeout. Pyles landed a kill out of the break, but the Rebels scored three unanswered points to stretch their lead to 18-12, forcing LSU to call its first timeout. The Tigers burned their final timeout of the set as the Rebels’ run continued with six consecutive points for a 21-12 margin. LSU charged back by scoring six of the following seven points to cut the deficit to 22-18, but Ole Miss held on to take the opening set, 25-20.
Set 2
LSU scored the first three points in the stanza but called a timeout, trailing Ole Miss 11-8. The Rebels increased their lead to 19-12 when the Tigers called their last timeout of the set. LSU pulled within four points late at 24-20 but dropped the set 25-20. The Tigers hit .147 on 12 kills in the set, compared to the Rebels .333 on 15 kills.
Set 3
The Tigers took an early 8-4 lead capped by defensive specialist Sophie Bonnaffee’s ace to force a Rebel’s timeout. LSU led by as many as eight points at 20-12 but needed to call a timeout after Ole Miss went on a 4-1 run to trim the lead to 21-16. The Rebel’s run continued, pulling within three points at 24-21 behind a 9-4 run, but a kill by Pyles gave LSU a 25-21 victory to avoid the sweep. Pyles had a .625 hitting efficacy in the set with five kills on eight swings with no errors.
Set 4
LSU took the momentum early and was ahead 11-8 when Ole Miss called its first timeout and held a 17-13 advantage when the Rebels used its final timeout. OM scored three points out of the break to make it a one-point set, 17-16, which forced an LSU timeout. Ole Miss took a 20-17 lead thanks to an overall 7-0 run before Lee ended the outburst with a kill to make the score 20-18. Ole Miss closed the match by scoring five of the final six points to win the frame, 25-19.
Up Next
LSU will play its next three matches at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La., beginning next weekend with a 7 p.m. CT match against Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 11, and a 1 p.m. CT match versus Texas A&M on Sunday, Oct. 13.
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