STARKVILLE, Miss. – LSU ends its three-match losing streak with a sweep (25-23, 25-20, 25-20) over Mississippi State Friday afternoon at the Newell-Grissom Building.
LSU improves to 9-5 and is now 1-2 in league play, while Mississippi State’s six-match winning streak is put to rest and are now 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the SEC.
The Tigers held the Bulldogs to a .178 hitting percentage behind eight blocks and 55 digs, marking the sixth time LSU has held its opponent under a .200 hitting percentage this season. Offensively, LSU hit .267 behind 46 kills and logged three aces.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson tallied her seventh double-double this season with 13 kills and 12 digs. Robinson also added two aces and three blocks, including one solo block, for a match-high 17 points. Outside hitter Lainee Pyles and right side Jade Demps each had 10 kills. Pyles hit .429 with one error on 21 swings and had two blocks, while Demps finished with a .346 hitting percentage, nine digs and a block.
Setter Bailey Ortega flirted with a double-double with 33 assists and nine digs and slipped in three kills and a block. Middle blocker Jessica Jones led the team with four blocks and middle blocker Angie Lee followed with three blocks and seven kills. Libero Aly Kirkhoff led all players with 16 digs and had six assists.
MSU’s outside hitters Kailin Newsome and Karli Schmidt each recorded 10 kills to lead the Bulldogs.
Set 1
Robinson opened the match by scoring the first three points with two kills and a solo block. The Tigers increased its lead to 6-2 and went into the media timeout with a 15-13 advantage. The Bulldogs pulled within one point at 20-19, but the Tigers scored three of the following four points to hold a 23-20 lead, burning through both State’s timeouts. Mississippi State made another push, scoring the following two points out of the timeout, but LSU pulled out the win 25-23 thanks to a service error and a kill by Lee. Lee and Robinson led the way with four kills, and Robinson had two blocks in the set.
Set 2
The Tigers forced the Bulldogs to use an early timeout as the visiting club led 9-5 behind a 5-1 run. MSU tied the stanza at 14, but LSU’s 4-1 burst pressured the home team to call its final timeout trailing, 18-15. The Bayou Bengals did not let off the gas and won the set, 25-20. MSU hit .122 in the set, its lowest in the match, and Demps landed six kills on 11 attacks with one error for a .455 hitting percentage.
Set 3
LSU led 15-12 at the media timeout, featuring seven ties and four lead changes. The Tiger never looked back as Mississippi State burned a timeout down 18-15 and signaled for its final timeout down 22-18. LSU scored three of the final five points, highlighted by two kills from Pyles to win the set, 25-20. Pyles registered six kills on eight errorless swings for a .750 hitting percentage and added one block.
Up Next
The backend of the Mississippi trip has LSU facing off against Ole Miss at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 6, in Oxford, Miss.
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