Backed by a strong offensive output from the duo of middle blockers, LSU’s volleyball team swept past Mississippi State on Friday night in the PMAC, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21,25-20)
With the victory, No. 17 LSU (23-5, 17-2) has now won 16 of its last 17 contests, including 15 sweeps in that span.
“Our middles when we pass well are awfully difficult to defend because they are two completely different styles,” said LSU coach Fran Flory.
The Tigers’ offense hit at a .294 clip, backed by senior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper’s 13 kills and .440 attacking percentage and senior outside hitter Marina Skender’s 14 kills. Skender added on 10 digs for her 47th career double-double.
LSU’s defense also did a solid job, holding the Bulldogs (8-22, 4-15) to a .186 attacking percentage while collecting 55 digs as a team.
The Tigers had only four blocks in the match.
“Part of blocking is channeling the ball, and I thought we did a good job of that,” Flory said. “We don’t have the blocks on the stat sheet, but we were digging well.”
The Tigers came out strong in the first set with a 25-18 victory backed by Cooper’s six kills and Dabbs’ 14 assists.
Defensively, the Tigers did as they have done all year and held the Bulldogs to a .128 attacking percentage and a 50 sideout percentage.
The second set wasn’t as pretty for the Tigers, as the team fell behind early by as many as seven at 12-5 but rallied for a 12-3 run to take a 17-15 lead and didn’t look back, taking the set 25-21.
Sophomore middle blocker Michele Williams had eight kills in the set and finished the night with 13 while Dabbs dished out 18 assists in the set.
 
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