Winning is quickly becoming a routine exercise for the No. 17 LSU volleyball team.
The Tigers (13-0, 4-0) are off to the best start in school history following a three-set sweep of Mississippi State (9-5, 1-2) on Sunday in Starkville, Miss.
The quick start has come as a pleasant surprise to junior libero Lauren Waclawczyk.
“This is really awesome. It’s kind of hard to describe,” Waclawczyk said. “It’s not what any of us expected, but it’s still fun to just blow all our expectations out.”
Leading the way for the Tigers was senior outside hitter Angela Bensend, who tallied 16 kills and 16 digs while recording a hitting percentage of .500.
Three other Tigers — junior middle blocker Michele Williams, sophomore outside hitter Madie Jones and freshman middle blocker Desiree Elliott — joined Bensend with double-digit kill totals, each recording 10.
LSU recorded 54 kills, as a team.
Bensend said credit goes to senior setter Brittney Johnson for helping the hitters find opportunities for kills.
Johnson had 33 assists for the Tigers.
“Johnson did a great job kind of opening up the hitters in the middle and allowed the other hitters to help out the outside,” Bensend said. “We can thank Johnson because she’s the one that helps us out the most.”
The Tigers hit at a .358 pace and held the Bulldogs to a .143 mark for the match, something Waclawczyk credits to the team’s ability to talk out scenarios.
“Our communication was a lot better,” Waclawczyk said. “[LSU coach] Fran [Flory] preached to us and preached to us about how important communication is. And not just communication about the other team, but communication about our own team. We were pushing each other to the limit, knowing what we can and can’t do, and we were just really helping each other out and empowering the person next to us.”
The Tigers also totaled four service aces and dug 54 balls.
LSU swept Alabama on Friday night in Tuscaloosa while hitting at .393 percentage.
The Tigers were led by Johnson’s 40 assists and Williams’ 13 kills.
The win, though, was a bit out of the norm for the Tigers.
“This was not a normal match for us in terms of getting into our rhythm,” Flory said following Friday’s match. “I can’t say enough about the poise, confidence and composure that our team showed to stay the course.”
But for now, Waclawczyk said the team is soaking in the feeling of the great start.
“We’re not stopping. We love this feeling. We don’t want it to end,” Waclawczyk said. “We have such a cohesiveness going now that it’s going to be hard to break that. So hopefully this keeps going, and we’re just going to enjoy it.”
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]