The LSU volleyball team continues to prove its performance against No. 2 Penn State in the Tiger Invitational was not a fluke.
The No. 22 Tigers captured their second straight preseason tournament championship this past weekend, winning the Dayton Invitational against the University of Dayton, Indiana University and Wake Forest University.
With the victories, LSU improved its record to 8-1 overall. Penn State handed the team their only loss of the season Aug. 26 in a five-game thriller to close out the Tiger Invitational.
LSU opened the Dayton Invitational with a 3-1 win Friday against the Dayton Flyers. The Tigers lost the first game of the match 25-30, but rallied to win three straight games and take the match 30-21, 30-22 and 30-26.
Freshman Lauren DeGirolamo led the match with 16 kills, and sophomore Marina Skender added 13. Senior Daniela Romero anchored the Tigers’ defense with 18 digs.
The opening game loss to Dayton would be the first and only game the Tigers would lose in the tournament.
LSU swept both of its matches Saturday, defeating Indiana 30-21, 30-22, 30-20 and Wake Forest 30-19, 30-18, 30-17.
Senior Melody Clark led the match against the Hoosiers with 17 kills. Defensively, senior Kassi Mikulik posted 14 digs and DeGirolamo had a match-best eight blocks.
The Tigers seemed to get better as the tournament progressed, holding Wake Forest to under 20 points in each of its three games.
Skender led the team’s final match with 13 kills, and Clark picked up nine kills and six blocks. Sophomore Elena Martinez led the team with 15 digs.
Coach Fran Flory praised her team’s performance following the game.
“What a great weekend for us,” she said in a news release after the game. “I’m really proud of this team. They gave a superb effort throughout the entire tournament and controlled every match and pretty much every game after a tough battle on Friday night.”
Flory said her team was almost perfect over the weekend.
“[On a scale of one to 10] I think we were probably at a nine,” she said.
Flory said her team still needs to improve its quickness before Southeastern Conference play begins Friday against Tennessee.
“I think we can be faster,” she said. “This weekend we didn’t play as quickly as we did last weekend.”
At the Billiken Invitational, the Tigers were led by underclassmen like Skender and DeGirolamo.
This weekend, Flory said the seniors demonstrated leadership and carried the team to the tournament title.
“We have worked real hard to not have a weak link,” she said. “On any given day, any person can really carry us.”
Flory was not the only person to recognize the seniors’ accomplishments at the tournament.
For the second consecutive year, the Dayton Invitational named Romero the Most Valuable Player. Romero was also named MVP of the Billiken Invitational.
Seniors Clark and Mikulik were also named to the all-tournament team.
—–Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]