NEW ORLEANS – LSU (6-4) cruised its way through the Tulane Invitational as it took down Tulane (5-6) 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 on Saturday night at Fogelman Arena.
Three Tigers earned a spot on the Tulane Invitational Tournament Team, including outside hitter Sanaa Dotson, middle blocker Anita Anwusi and libero Ella Larkin.
LSU hit .330 in the game while holding Tulane to a .170 hitting percentage. The Tigers won nearly every statistical category including kills (44-37), assists (40-31), digs (49-37) and blocks (4-3). Tulane recorded four aces in the match compared to LSU’s three.
“We competed well,” coach Tonya Johnson said. “I knew Tulane was going to come out with a lot of energy, but our kids did a good job of not being too high or too low. We came out and played consistently against them [Tulane]. Overall, this weekend, we did some great things defensively and were able to get our middle involved, which is something we’ve been trying to do for the last two or three weeks. It was a good way to close out our non-conference schedule.”
Dotson hit .324 for the second straight game and recorded 16 kills. She also matched a match-high nine digs with defensive specialist Jill Bohnet and Larkin and had an ace in the win. Jacobs posted a career-high .667 hitting percentage after 10 kills on 15 errorless swings and had two blocks.
Setter Josie Vondran led the Tiger offense with 23 assists, while freshman Maddie Waak had 13 assists in the win. Both Vondran and Waak had an ace.
Set 1
- LSU had an early 5-2 lead until a 6-1 run gave Tulane an 8-6 advantage. The Green Wave led 11-8 when the Tigers called their first timeout.
- The Tigers came out of the break on a 5-0 run to regain the lead 13-11, forcing Tulane to take the first timeout. The run continued as LSU extended its lead to 16-11 before the Green Wave scored again.
- Tulane cut LSU’s lead to three points several times, but the Tigers held on and won 25-19. LSU closed out the set on a 3-0 run.
- LSU hit .500 in the set and tallied 12 kills on 22 swings with just one error. They also recorded three blocks and held Tulane to a .097 hitting percentage in the set.
- Dotson, outside hitter Paige Flickinger and Jacobs finished the set with three kills apiece and Jacobs had two blocks.
Set 2
- The two clubs traded points going into a 6-6 tie, but the Green Wave scored five of the next seven points to go ahead 11-8 when LSU burned the first timeout of the set.
- The Tigers responded once again after the break with four unanswered points to take a 12-11 lead. LSU put together an 8-2 run overall and led 16-13 when Tulane called a timeout.
- Despite trailing by five points, Tulane clawed back and pulled within a point at 23-22 when LSU used the final timeout of the set. However, LSU would not relinquish the lead and took a commanding 2-0 lead after a 25-23 set win.
- Jacobs hit .625 in the frame with five kills on eight errorless outings, while Dotson and Flickinger followed with four and three kills, respectively.
Set 3
- A 4-1 run by the Tigers gave them an 11-8 lead and forced a Green Wave timeout in the early stages of the stanza.
- LSU had a first down at the 15 and led 15-10 when Tulane went on a 5-2 run to make it a two-point game at 17-15. The Tigers scored five unanswered points to get the lead back to 22-15 when the Green Wave used the final timeout.
- Although Tulane scored three of the next four points, back-to-back kills by Dotson ended the set in a 25-18 LSU victory.
- Dotson shined in the third set as she finished with nine kills with a .316 hitting percentage.
The next one
LSU opens SEC play with a 7:00 p.m. game against Arkansas on Wednesday, September 21 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.
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