Mississippi State
LSU
Tigers Overcome Early Bulldog Lead For 3-1 Win
October 07, 2007 | Volleyball
BATON ROUGE, La. - Mississippi State (6-11, 1-7 SEC) gave No. 20 LSU an early scare, taking the opening set of their SEC volleyball match Sunday afternoon at the Maravich Assembly Center. But the SEC West-leading Tigers (15-2, 7-1 SEC) roared back to life to win the next three games and the match, 19-30, 30-22, 30-19, 30-25.
The Tiger tandem of Lauren DeGirolamo and Kyna Washington tallied 18 kills each and LSU enjoyed a solid 17-6 advantage in team blocking. DeGirolamo had three solos and six assisted blocks.
Cristina Jucan led State with 15 kills and added 11 digs for her ninth "double-double" of the season. Ioana Demian finished with 12 kills.
For the second straight match, State senior libero set a career high for digs, following up a 26-dig Friday night effort with 27 against LSU. State out-dug the Tigers 67-61. State served up 11 aces, its second-highest total of the season, including a career-best five by Jucan.
State took the early lead in the match, taking advantage of LSU miscues to post a solid 30-19 game one win over the 20th-ranked Tigers. A pair of service aces by Cristina Jucan helped MSU bolt to a 5-1 edge. Jucan, Erin Seago and Ioana Demian had three kills each while the Tigers were held to a minus .067 hitting percentage. Eva Kriegel, who opened the set with a kill, delivered the game-winner for State.
The Bulldogs fell behind 4-2 in the early going of game two but reeled off eight straight points on the serves of Megan Lukasek to take a 10-4 lead. The Tigers used solid blocking to surge back and tie the game at 12-12 and later parlayed a 6-0 run to open a 26-19 advantage. Kyna Washington, held to one kill in the opening set, tallied eight in game two and Lauren DeGirolamo recorded five blocks as LSU evened the match with a 30-22 win.
The Tigers came back from the break in impressive fashion, scoring the first six points of the third set and never looking back in taking a 30-19 win. Washington tallied six kills and the Tigers, who piled up 13 total blocks, limited State to eight kills and minus .051 hitting. In the deciding fourth game, LSU bolted to an 11-3 lead before the Bulldogs battled back into contention. State tied the score at 15-15 on a Lukasek ace and again at 16-16 on a kill by Demian. But the Tigers scored eight of the final 11 points of the set to clinch the match with a 30-25 win.
The Bulldogs return to action on the home court this weekend, playing host to Georgia Friday at 7 p.m. and SEC West rival Auburn in a 1:30 p.m. match Sunday at the Newell-Grissom Building.
