The LSU vs. Vanderbilt sports rivalry didn’t only apply in terms of football this weekend.
LSU volleyball traveled to Nashville to take on the Commodores at the Memorial Gymnasium on Friday night. Both the Tigers and Commodores had a two-match losing streak heading into this game, and both had something to prove.
For LSU, suffering two consecutive sweeps by Alabama and Kentucky dragged its conference record to 2-4. If you’re head coach Tonya Johnson, you need your team’s best effort to even that stretch, especially without the home advantage.
Regarding the Commodores, two recent losses against Auburn and Florida marked the team’s fifth conference loss this season and they sat at 1-5. Once Friday’s match concluded, that record would become 1-6.
The Tigers fought tirelessly to win the matchup (18-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21, 15-10) in what became another five-set thriller on LSU’s season.
The win was a storybook for LSU’s middles, Jessica Jones and Angelina Lee. The two had outstanding performances the entire night, especially on the service line. Jones ended the night with three service aces, hit a season-high 11 kills on a .429 hitting percentage and added five blocks for the defense. Lee ended with nine kills on a .667 hitting percentage.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson simply continued to be “that girl” as SEC Network announcer Katie Myers put it, with 17 kills on the night and 12 digs. Fellow outsider hitter Nia Washington was present in the lineup again after missing the past two matches, contributing 10 kills, three service aces and four blocks.
Despite the Commodores’ loss, Vanderbilt’s senior middle Jackie Moore put up record numbers against the Tigers’ efficient defense all night. Moore led the match with a season-high 23 kills and a .415 hitting percentage, a force that the LSU defense just couldn’t seem to contain, even until the very end.
The first few minutes of set one began rocky for LSU as the Commodores went on a five-point run to gain the lead 6-1 over the Tigers. This early run didn’t kill the Tigers’ spirits, as LSU went on to score seven unanswered to force the first timeout of the set.
Unfortunate for LSU, it came out of the timeout trailing Vanderbilt until the Commodores eventually took the first set 25-18
The second set went on to be all LSU as it won the set 25-15, stunning the Commodores’ offense that was just dominant a set prior.
All night and especially during the third set, Robinsons’ cross court kills continued to set up LSU for success. The Commodores knew the ball was going to Robinson every time LSU was in trouble, but couldn’t do anything to stop the outside hitters’ command on the court.
As LSU ran out of time for strategic comeback plays, Vanderbilt’s offense retaliated to force a third set win over the Tigers 25-19.
Led by Robinson once again in the fourth, LSU’s offense bounced back. The Tigers’ took advantage of small defensive performance errors on the Commodores’ side of the court.
As LSU inched closer to forcing a fifth set and set in panic for the home team, Vanderbilt slowly grew uneasy and took a timeout with LSU leading 20-16.
While Vanderbilt regained its footing behind Moore, costly blocks out of bounds and defensive mistakes would allow a late LSU comeback and the Tigers took the set 25-21.
Forcing a fifth set isn’t anything new to this LSU team. It’s what the Tigers have been known for all year.
If you’re Vanderbilt, this fifth set is a crucial wake-up call. So far this season, the Commodores have been 0-2 in five set matches. Looking to pick up the first fifth-set win of its season against LSU, Vanderbilt had everything to lose.
The first four points of the fifth went to the Tigers as Vanderbilt simply could not get its offense placed. A brutal kill that landed just outside of Jones gave the Commodores their first point of the set. Nonetheless, Jones took another swing, switching up her shot to gain a point in the very next play.
With Moore on Vanderbilt’s sideline for a bit in the fifth, the Commodores offense was put under immense stress, trying to make up on the court for where Moore was missed.
Despite late Commodore efforts to rally once Moore checked back into the match, LSU locked down the fifth set 15-10 to get its 11th win of the season and third conference win, improving its record to 10-8.
With momentum following this match, LSU will hit the road once more this weekend to face Missouri before hosting a four-match home stretch.
