BATON ROUGE, The. – In another five-set match in SEC play, LSU cruised to a 20-25, 25-20, 25-13, 21-25, 15-10 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night at the Pete Assembly Center Maravich (PMAC).
LSU (13-8, 7-4 SEC) extends its winning streak to three and improves to 6-2 in five-set games in conference play. Mississippi State (11-10, 4-7 SEC) recorded its fifth straight loss of the season.
The Tigers outhit the Bulldogs .218-.146 and recorded 11 blocks on the night. It’s the 13th time this season that LSU has held its opponent below a .200 hitting percentage and the eighth time that LSU has recorded 10 or more blocks, including three times in a four-game span. The Fighting Tigers also had 90 or more digs for the second time this season as they dug out 96 balls in the win with five players getting 10 or more digs.
Outside hitter Paige Flickinger posted her sixth double-double of the season as she posted a season-high 17 kills on a .375 hitting percentage and 14 digs. Flickinger also had two aces in the match and her first ace – which was also the first point of the match – was her 50th career ace. Flickinger also finished with two blocks that included a solo block.
A trio of Tigers had nine kills, including middle blocker Anita Anwusi, outside hitter Sanaa Dotson and setter Josie Vondran. Each of them nearly had a double-double. Anwusi, who hit .412 in the match, tied her career high with nine shutouts, including back-to-back blocks in the fifth set to help seal the win. Dotson collected 11 digs to go along with three blocks. In addition to her season-highs in kills, Vondran recorded a .368 hitting percentage, had a team-high 24 assists and tallied six digs and five blocks.
Freshman Maddie Waak posted her second double-double of the season with 21 assists and 12 digs. Waak also had an ace in the win. It’s the fourth time this season that Vondran and Waak have each had 20 or more assists in a game.
Defensive specialist Jill Bohnet set a new career high with 26 digs and had a pair of aces and a kill in the win. Libero Ella Larkin followed with 22 digs and added six assists and an ace. It marks the first time a pair of Tigers has had 20 or more digs since the program’s all-time leader Raigen Cianciulli (24) and Larkin (20) did it at Arkansas on Sept. 22, 2021.
Set 1
- Each club strung together runs that resulted in several lead changes, but Mississippi State went into halftime with a 15-13 lead. LSU took its first timeout trailing 18-14.
- The Tigers cut the deficit to 18-16 after scoring the first two points out of the break, but the Bulldogs responded with a 5-2 run to push their lead to 23-18, forcing LSU into the final timeout of the set.
- MSU went on to win the opening set, 25-20.
Set 2
- LSU got an early 9-6 shutout and Mississippi State extended its lead to 15-11. LSU went on a 3-0 run to cut the visiting team’s lead to 15-14 and the Bulldogs called for their first timeout of the game.
- The run continued after the break in action as the Tigers took an 18-15 lead thanks to seven unanswered points. Mississippi State took its final timeout 20-16.
- MSU scored the next two points, but LSU went on another 4-0 run and eventually won the frame, 25-20.
- Flickinger led the Tigers with four kills on 11 errorless swings (.364) and Vondran followed with three kills, six assists and two blocks.
Set 3
- After the two teams traded points in a 5-5 tie, LSU scored five straight times to make MSU miss a timeout, 10-5.
- The Tigers scored seven of the next 10 points to force the Bulldogs to call their final timeout with the home team ahead 17-8.
- LSU extended its lead to double digits at 22-12 as they pulled away with a 25-13 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the game.
- LSU hit .452 in the set with 15 kills on 31 swings and just one error. Three Tigers in Flickinger, Vondran and middle blocker Alia Williams each had three kills.
Set 4
- Mississippi State took a 7-3 lead when LSU used the first timeout of the set. After the break in play, LSU reeled off five straight points to take an 8-7 advantage, but the Bulldogs quickly regained the lead and went up 16-12 when LSU called its final timeout.
- The Tigers started to pick up steam and forced a Bulldogs timeout still trailing 19-15. LSU was able to pull within two points at 23-21 thanks to a 4-1 run, however, MSU forced a fifth set after taking the fourth, 25-21.
Set 5
- LSU took its first lead of the set at 6-5, but Mississippi State held an 8-6 advantage when the teams switched sides.
- After Flickinger’s kill, Anwusi got a solo block to tie the game at eight. Anwusi and Vondran then combined for another block to put the Tigers up 9-8 and put Mississippi State up just short.
- A 7-1 overall run gave LSU a 13-9 advantage when MSU called its final timeout. The Tigers closed out the set with a hit by Anwusi and after an MSU point, a service error by the visitors gave LSU a 15-10 victory.
- Flickinger led the way with a .500 hitting percentage after four kills on eight swings and no errors. As a unit, the Tigers held MSU to a .034 hitting percentage and posted three blocks as a group.
The next one
LSU and Mississippi State will play the series finale at 1:00 PM on Sunday in the PMAC.
Season tickets for the 2022 LSU volleyball season are now available. Fans interested in becoming a season ticket holder can get more information by clicking here. All tickets will be distributed via mobile devices for faster delivery of tickets to fans, contactless transactions at the gate and more flexibility for ticket holders. For more information on mobile tickets click here.
Support LSU Volleyball directly by contributing to the Volleyball Excellence Fund today!
For the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the team on its social media at www.facebook.com/lsuvolleyball and @lsuvolleyball on Instagram and I tweet.
