BATON ROUGE, La. – A showdown between two of the SEC’s top hitters lived up to the billing as Jurnee Robinson and Bianna Muoneke combined for 60 kills, with each recording 30, in a five-set thriller that saw Georgia rally past LSU, 3-2 (25-19, 15-25, 32-30, 19-25, 9-15), on Sunday afternoon at the Maravich Center.
LSU (8-9, 3-5 SEC) came up short after taking a 2-1 lead in the match. The Tigers held statistical advantages in kills (68-66), assists (63-57) and digs (68-60), but the Bulldogs recorded 12 aces and 14.0 blocks to finish with a 92.0-80.0 advantage in points.
Robinson recorded her second 30-kill performance of the season and fourth of her career, adding three solo blocks for a match-high 33.0 points. Outside hitter Lainee Pyles capped a strong weekend with 14 kills, finishing with 25 kills across eight sets. Right side Tireh Smith recorded a season-high 11 kills on a .421 hitting percentage and added two blocks.
Setter Martina Villani recorded her first double-double as an LSU Tiger and 11th of her career with a season-best 54 assists and 14 digs, marking her eighth career match with at least 50 assists. She also added two blocks. Libero Kiley Brooks posted her second 20-dig performance of the season, collecting a season-high 23 digs and adding an ace.
SET 1
LSU forced an early Georgia timeout while holding an 11-10 lead, but the Bulldogs took a 15-14 advantage into the media timeout. The Tigers responded with a 4-0 run to go ahead 19-16 and closed the set by claiming six of the final nine points for a 25-19 victory.
Robinson led LSU with seven kills, while Pyles added six kills on seven swings without an error, hitting .857. The Tigers finished the set with a .394 hitting percentage.
SET 2
Georgia used a five-point run to take an 8-4 lead before extending its advantage to double digits. The Bulldogs evened the match with a 25-15 victory.
SET 3
The Tigers jumped out to an 11-3 lead, forcing Georgia to use both timeouts. The Bulldogs responded by cutting the deficit to 12-10, but LSU maintained a 15-10 advantage at the media timeout.
Georgia eventually tied the set at 22-22, and the teams continued trading points in a back-and-forth finish. After eight additional ties, LSU secured the 32-30 victory with consecutive kills by Robinson. She finished with 10 kills in the set alone.
SET 4
LSU carried its momentum into the fourth set, scoring the first four points and holding a 12-8 lead when Georgia called its second and final timeout. The Bulldogs responded with a decisive 13-3 run to take a 21-15 advantage before closing out a 25-19 victory to force a fifth set.
SET 5
Georgia took an early 6-2 lead, prompting an LSU timeout. The Tigers battled back to tie the set at 7-7, but the Bulldogs regained control and forced another LSU timeout with an 11-7 advantage. Georgia maintained its lead down the stretch, closing the match with a 15-9 victory.
UP NEXT
LSU hits the road for a matchup against No. 7 Florida on Oct. 23 before facing Auburn on Oct. 25.
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