Maturity was the unanimous deciding factor among players and coaches after the LSU volleyball team beat Ole Miss in a tightly contested match.
LSU (11-13) and Ole Miss (10-13) went back and forth in all four sets before the Tigers finally took the match 3-1.
After splitting the first two sets, the Tigers came out of the locker room strong, jumping out to a quick 10-3 lead in the third set.
The Rebels refused to lay down, cutting LSU’s lead to 21-20, but the Tigers came out of a timeout called by LSU coach Fran Flory with composure and took the set 25-22.
“The mature teams are able to handle those situations,” said junior middle blocker Desiree Elliott. “We’re a roller coaster team, and the more mature we are on the court, the more calm we are on the court, and we’re able to put away very important plays.”
In a reversal from the third set, Ole Miss took an early lead in the fourth and the Tigers trailed for most of the set.
But a rally led by senior outside hitter Madie Jones, who accounted for nine of LSU’s 15 kills in the fourth set, resulted in the Tigers celebrating a 26-24 victory.
“I kind of just turned on another level,” Jones said. “… We didn’t want to go to five [sets] with them, so I knew that if I could step in there and be the one for my team that we could finish in four.”
Jones was a dominant force for LSU’s offense, tallying 25 kills and a .339 hitting clip on the match.
“They were releasing both blockers out on [Jones] before they even knew we were going to set, so the fact that she was still able to score shows the range that she has offensively,” Flory said.
Flory went on to say players like Jones are vital to the success of any team, especially when they have a tendency to turn it on late in games.
Elliott was also successful on the offensive side of the ball, coming up with 14 kills and two errors on a .400 hitting clip.
“The nice thing about [Elliott] was she didn’t score the way she always scores,” Flory said. “… She scored easy points by playing intelligent volleyball and seizing the opportunities that were in front of her, and that’s not something we have been able to do.”
The victory improved LSU’s conference record to 7-8, and marked the end of a three-game home stand for the Tigers, who will be on the road for four of their five remaining matches.
