Any worries for LSU coach Fran Flory about her team reveling too much after the team’s sweep of then-No. 6 Florida were put to rest Friday night, as the Tigers swept Arkansas, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19).
The victory marked the Tigers’ seventh-straight victory. In that span, LSU (14-4, 8-1) has dropped just one set.The Tigers were led on the evening by the play of senior outside hitter Marina Skender, who knocked home 15 kills on a .314 attacking percentage and had 5 block assists.”The first two sets I was saying, ‘Thank goodness for Marina Skender’ because she was the only one keeping us in the match,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “She manages so many plays and does such a great job of taking care of our team.”
Defensively, sophomore libero Lauren Waclawczyk had eight digs to lead the team, while the team tallied 10.5 blocks and held the Razorbacks (10-11, 4-6) to a .123 attacking percentage.
The Tigers breezed to a first set victory, 25-17, backed by Skender’s seven kills on a .417 attack percentage.
LSU held the Razorbacks to a .053 attacking percentage in the set and a 47 sideout percentage.In the second set, a 25-21 LSU victory, the Tigers had only nine digs but tallied four blocks to Arkansas’ zero. The Razorbacks out-killed the Tigers, 16-14.However, Flory wasn’t impressed with her team’s lackluster first few sets.
“We really struggled to find a rhythm,” Flory said. “I felt like we were going to struggle a little in the beginning of this match, but I didn’t think it would take us as long to get a rhythm. In the third set we finally got it going a little bit.”
—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]
Volleyball: Tigers sweep past Arkansas – 9:24 p.m.
October 15, 2009