BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team extended its winning streak to five matches with a decisive 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 26-24) sweep over in-state foe Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. With the victory, LSU improves to 6-2 overall while Southeastern falls to 5-3 after dropping its third consecutive match.
The Tigers turned in one of their most complete performances of the season, hitting a season-high .354 with 48 kills while holding the Lions to a .188 attack percentage. LSU also registered five service aces, 46 digs, and three blocks, marking the fourth straight match the defense has kept its opponent under .200 hitting.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson paced the Tigers’ attack with a match-high 17 kills on a season-best .414 hitting percentage. Robinson added a block to finish with 17.5 points. Fellow outside hitter Nia Washington was impactful on both ends of the court, tallying nine kills, a season-best three aces, and two blocks to total 13.0 points.
On the right side, Tireh Smith chipped in eight kills on a strong .316 clip, while middle blocker Jessica Jones posted a flawless performance with six kills on 10 swings for a career-high .600 hitting percentage.
The offense was well-orchestrated by setters Takyla Brown and Lauren Brooker, who combined for 35 of the team’s 44 assists. Brown dished out 19 assists and turned in her second double-double of the season with a team-high 10 digs. , while Brooker added 16 assists and an ace.
The Tigers controlled the first two sets, using efficient offense and steady defense to take a 2-0 lead. Southeastern pushed LSU to the brink in the third, but LSU rallied back and scored the final five points of the set to secure the sweep.
Set 1
LSU took a 15-11 lead into the media timeout and increased its margin to 19-13 when SLU called its first timeout. An impressive rally that ended with a Washington kill forced the Lions to burn their second timeout trailing 22-17, but the Tigers closed out the set 25-18. LSU hit .560 in the frame, led by Robinson’s seven kills on eight attacks with no errors for an .875 hitting percentage.
Set 2
Southeastern used an early timeout down 8-7, but LSU scored four of the following five points and eventually stretched its lead to 20-12 behind a 4-0 run. SLU called its final timeout with LSU ahead 22-14, but it was too late as the Tigers took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-17 victory. LSU logged a .429 hitting percentage in the set. Seven Tigers recorded kills in the frame, including Robinson, Smith, and Washington, leading the way with three kills each.
Set 3
The Tigers jumped out to a 12-6 advantage when the Lions signaled for time. With LSU leading 14-9, SLU rattled off a massive 9-1 run to take an 18-15 lead, burning through both of LSU’s timeouts. The Bayou Bengals scored three consecutive points out of the timeout to knot the score at 18, and later a 4-0 run by the home club gave LSU a 25-24 lead. Southeastern called a timeout but could not stop LSU’s momentum. Smith ended the set and match with a kill, and the Tigers won the third set 26-24, closing out the match on a 5-0 run.
Up Next
LSU hits the road again for three matches in Los Angeles on Sept. 18-20, including a pair against USC at the Galen Center.
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