The LSU volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 victory over South Carolina, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21.
Sophomore middle blocker Briana Holman and freshman outside hitter Gina Tillis led the way for the Tigers (13-7, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) with 21 and 17 kills, respectively. Malorie Pardo added 52 assists in the match, the team’s third highest individual total of the year.
But the match was much more difficult than the stats tell.
Coming into the match, the Gamecocks (15-8, 5-5 SEC) ranked first or second in the SEC in digs, blocks and opponent hitting percentage. LSU coach Fran Flory said before practice on Thursday she expected a frustrating match for her Tigers.
In the opening set, South Carolina gave the Tigers a reason to be frustrated. LSU had a hitting percentage of .196 and the Gamecocks took the set 25-23.
Flory said South Carolina’s precise defense was giving LSU fits.
“I have to say first and foremost they are the most disciplined defensive team that we’ve played all year,” Flory said. “They are where they are supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there.”
But the Tigers adjusted and assistant coach Jill Lytle Wilson deserves the credit, according to Flory. Wilson watched hours of tape throughout the week and made sure LSU knew how to adjust to South Carolina’s game plan.
Flory said her team never gave in to the frustration of the first set and remained tenacious throughout the match.
“We had to be ahead of the play,” Flory said. “We had a nice game plan put together and it put us in the right spots. I have to credit Jill a little bit.”
LSU came out in the second set and turned things around in a hurry. The Tigers grabbed the first point and never gave the lead back, but it wasn’t easy.
South Carolina never trailed in the second set by more than four points until the final point.
The Tigers adjustments showed as they turned their .196 hitting percentage around into a .519 hitting percentage on their way to winning the set 25-20.
Even after winning the set, the Tigers were still frustrated. Tillis said the team didn’t think they hit that high of a percentage.
“When she told us during the break, we were just like, ‘okay,’” Tillis said. “I guess we think we need to be perfect all the time and then we found out that we actually were being pretty perfect.”
The Tigers weren’t hitting at that good of a percentage in the third set, but were able to dominate the set 25-15.
Again, Holman and Tillis led the way for LSU with 7 and 5 kills apiece in the set.
Holman said she just kept trying to find different ways to get points to keep South Carolina’s defense on their heels.
“I couldn’t allow myself to get frustrated,” Holman said. “I just had to keep swinging and throw some tips and rolls in there to knock them off.”
Again in the fourth set, South Carolina gave LSU a run for their money down to the very end, but the Tigers ultimately put them away, 25-21.
Flory said she hopes her team took a lesson from South Carolina’s disciplined defense and will apply going forward, starting in their next match on Sunday at Arkansas.
“[This match] is going to make us better,” Flory said. “They made us hit a little bit better shot because they were so disciplined defensively and blocking. Hopefully we’re going to be able to be a little more precise offensively.”