When thrust into the national spotlight, the LSU volleyball team did not choke, but rather seized the moment.
The Lady Tigers clawed their way to an ugly victory Wednesday night, defeating Arkansas (9-10, 3-5) in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-13, 25-17) in front of a packed house in the PMAC and for ESPNU’s cameras.
“We’re excited about the win, but we’re not very excited with the level that we played on tonight,”  said LSU coach Fran Flory. “It was a very uncharacteristic night for us. We were very high error in many, many areas, and we didn’t attack the ball very well. But a win is a win, and we’re certainly happy with that.”
With the win, LSU improved its record to 17-1 on the season and 8-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
While Flory was not pleased with the play of the team, she did compliment freshman middle blocker Desiree Elliott’s performance.
Elliott notched 11 kills and eight blocks in the match, both career highs for the young star.
“Tonight we really needed one or two players to really make a steady course for us and someone we could ride off of, and I’m really glad that [Elliott] could do that for us,” said sophomore outside hitter Madie Jones. “I really think she stepped up, and we needed her tonight so she did really good.”
Another positive note for the Tigers was their ability to get the ball back in their hands. LSU managed to side out over 70 percent in the match, but could not seem to capitalize on the opportunities.
“I think that was the biggest frustration,” Flory said. “We were able to side out, but we could not create anything in transition with our offense. After the step forward that we took this past weekend defensively, I think we took a big step back today.”
However ugly the match was, Jones said she was happy to walk away victorious playing on a national level.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “There’s all those external things you try not to let bother you during the game, but it was a good atmosphere.”
The Tigers have a quick turnaround as they face the Ole Miss Rebels Friday night in Oxford, Miss.
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]