Mississippi State
LSU
LSU Nips State In Five-Game Thriller
November 09, 2007 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior Jamie Joyner set a career-high for kills and senior setter Eva Kriegel registered her fourth "triple-double" of the season but it was not quite enough firepower to knock off SEC West-leading LSU at the Newell-Grissom Building. The Tigers (21-6, 12-5 SEC) won the first two games and then held off the Bulldogs (11-15, 6-11 SEC) for a 3-2 win before a season-highest crowd of 404. The win (30-24, 30-27, 26-30, 29-31, 15-12) gave LSU a sweep of the two-match season series.
Joyner piled up 23 kills on a stellar .391 hitting night while Kriegel registered 13 kills, 47 assists and 12 digs for her fourth "triple-double" of the campaign and the 12th of her three-year career.
"I thought we showed a lot of heart and spirit tonight," said fourth-year MSU head coach Tina Seals. "I was proud of the way we battled back from a 2-0 deficit to send the match to a fifth game. Our seniors once again stepped up and performed well against a quality opponent. LSU had a strong game at the net and came up with the big plays when it needed big plays."
State had a 75-56 edge in kills, but a season-high 45 attack errors proved to be the Bulldogs' undoing. So, too, did 16 MSU service errors, second-most this year for State, the SEC's top serving team.
In a tight opening game, LSU got three consecutive service aces from Kyna Washington to pull away from a close battle for a 30-24 win.
Kriegel opened the match in impressive fashion eight eight of MSU's 17 kills in game one. The two teams battled to a 22-22 deadlock in game two with Jamie Joyner notching seven kills in seven attempts for State. But LSU Brittnee Cooper put the Tigers on top with a kill and LSU held off a late Bulldog charge for a 30-27 win and 2-0 match lead at the break.
State led from start to finish in the third set, with senior middle Erin Seago taking charge with five kills, including the game-winner in a 30-26 State win. The Bulldogs hit at a match-best .250 clip in the set.
The Bulldogs kept the match alive with a hard-fought 31-29 win in game four, rallying from a 24-21 deficit to tie the score at 28-28 and then out-pointing LSU 3-1 for a 31-29 win.
LSU used a 7-1 run to erase an early Mississippi State lead in the deciding fifth game and cruised on to a 15-12 match-clinching win. Both teams had seven kills in the final set, but the Tigers rang up six points on Bulldog hitting errors to stay in a three-way tie for the SEC West lead.
In addition to Joyner and Kriegel, two other Bulldogs reached double figure kills totals --- sophomore Ioana Demian with 13 and senior Erin Seago with 11. Seago and freshman Ashley Newsome shared team honors at the net with two blocks each. State amassed a 76 to 67 lead in digs.
Megan Lukasek led the way with a match-high 21. Joyner added 15, Demian 14 and Kriegel 12. Newsome matched a season best with nine kills. LSU got a 20-kill, 11-block performance from Lauren DeGirolamo. Brittnee Cooper had 12 kills and Kyna Washington 10.
The Bulldogs close out their 2007 home schedule Sunday at 1:30 p.m. hosting instate SEC rival Mississippi.
