Mississippi State
6-7, 1-3SEC
LSU
10-3, 3-0SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 24 | 18 | 17 | 0 |
| LSU | 26 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball Drops Road Match To Tigers
September 25, 2011 | Volleyball
BATON ROUGE, La. - LSU rallied for a 26-24 opening set win and went on to top Mississippi State (6-7, 1-3 SEC) in straight sets Sunday in SEC volleyball at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers (10-3, 3-0) bested MSU 25-18 and 25-17 in the second and third stanzas to remain one of two SEC teams with unblemished league records.
The 1-2 punch of Madie Jones and Desiree Elliott proved too much to handle for State. The duo combined for 30 of LSU's 51 kills to lead the Tigers. Jones tallied 19 kills and Elliott 11 while Caitlin Rance and Hannah Wilkinson finished with five kills for State/ The Bulldogs' weekend offensive struggles continued, with MSU hitting at a season-low .069 for the match while LSU hit .246 and held a 51-23 edge in kills. Rance, who leads MSU with 205 kills, notched her 900th career kill in the match.
Paris Perret and Bentley Witte shared defensive honors for State with nine digs each. Freshman Lainey Wyman recorded a match-leading seven blocks. MSU posted an 8-6 advantage in total team blocking.
State raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set and on a Caitlin Rance kill held a 17-13 advantage. But Jones, with seven first-set kills, sparked the LSU comeback as the Tigers pulled even at 19-19, and overcame a 24-22 MSU advantage to win take the opening set 26-24.
The Bulldogs held the upper hand in the early going of the second set and claimed a 9-6 edge with a Tiger service error. LSU thundered back with a 6-0 scoring spree and took advantage of eight Bulldog attack errors to claim the second set 25-18.
LSU staked State to an early 3-0 lead with a service error and two errant attacks before going on a 13-2 spree that helped lead to a matching-clinching 25-17 win. MSU managed but three kills in the final set.
Sophomore outside hitter Dani McCree made her first start and fourth appearance of the season, finishing the afternoon with three kills and a block.
The Bulldogs continue their initial four-match SEC road run of the season next weekend, closing out its 11-match September schedule with a Friday (7 p.m.) match at Alabama before traveling to Oxford Sunday (4 p.m.) for a nationally-televised (ESPNU) match at Ole Miss.
