A rewarding five-set thriller went underway on LSU volleyball’s senior day to break the Tigers’ four-match losing streak.
LSU defeated Ole Miss 20-25, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 15-13 on Sunday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, where fans and family came out to support the program’s seniors in the team’s second-to-last matchup at home.
Pin hitter Ana Tevdoradze and outside hitter Nia Washington were honored after the matchup for their time with the Tigers. The Tigers were emotional, celebrating the success of their teammates, as these are some of their last memories together with only a few matches left in the regular season before the SEC Volleyball Tournament.
For Washington, this matchup wasn’t just an honorable night for her collegiate career that’s close to an end. This win was a little more special for her — Washington is a transfer from Ole Miss.
Against her former team, Washington had her best performance of the season with 23 kills on a .310 attack percentage.
LSU and Ole Miss both headed into the matchup tied 3-8 in conference play. The Tigers were 10-12 overall while the Rebels sat at 11-11 before the afternoon match occurred.
In the first set, the Tigers’ overall efforts fell short to the Rebels’ offense as they quickly advanced to a 10-3 lead. LSU was forced to burn through both of its timeouts as Ole Miss was the first to reach 20 points as the Tigers fell behind at 12 points. The Tigers went on a late rally to cut their deficit, but Ole Miss held its ground to take the opening set 25-20.
The set following would be a spark of momentum for the Tigers, something that hadn’t been present in their past few matchups. LSU once again fell behind early in the frame, but went on to score seven points to tie the set 8-8.
Ole Miss still had a 15-13 lead heading into the media timeout, but the Tigers bounced back to gain a 19-18 lead. LSU went on a five-point run to force another Ole Miss timeout, but it was no threat to the Tigers, who took the set 25-19 to even the match.
The second set was one of the Tigers’ strongest offensively, as Washington and fellow outside hitter Jurnee Robinson both had seven kills and the Tigers’ overall hit .432 in the set alone.
Ole Miss had the advantage throughout the beginning of the third set and forced the Tigers to quickly burn through their timeouts, trailing behind 19-23. LSU managed to cut its deficit after a 4-1 run, but the Rebels held off to take the set 25-23.
The fourth set was all-or-nothing for LSU.
With the Rebels claiming the first and third, a set win for Ole Miss would end the match, adding on to a losing streak that has haunted the Tigers in the second half of conference play this season.
The Tigers knew what they needed to accomplish and began the fourth with fire to take an early 6-2 lead that forced an Ole Miss timeout. The Rebels burned through their second timeout with the LSU advancing 18-10.
Despite the huge deficit for Ole Miss, the Rebels were not giving up the match easily. Ole Miss went after the LSU lead to force the Tigers to burn through both timeouts, clinging on to a much smaller 21-18 lead.
Six unanswered points from Ole Miss would fluster the Tigers who were trailing 23-24. The Rebels were one point away from handing the Tigers a fifth consecutive loss.
However, LSU didn’t back down. The Tigers scored two more to take set four 26-24, forcing the match to go to five sets.
Five-set thrillers have been a common occurrence for LSU this season. It’s no surprise that as soon as the fifth set started, Ole Miss and LSU went head-to-head, both teams retaliating with points of their own after every point the other made. The Rebels held an 8-7 lead when teams switched sides.
LSU needed this set win and fought for it. The Tigers went on a 5-1 run to force Ole Miss to use its final two timeouts of the match, holding onto a 12-9 lead.
Nonetheless, Ole Miss persisted, scoring three points to bring the set 13-12, but Robinson landed a huge kill for the Tigers to bring them one point away from winning the match.
The very next play would feel like a movie for Tiger fans.
A final kill for Washington on her senior day would be a beautiful ending to the match for the Tigers. One final kill landed against her former team is nothing short of special to showcase growth.
This heartfelt win for the Tigers improved their record 4-8 against conference opponents and 11-12 overall.
Concluding the matchup, the Tigers’ dominance on offense was the star of the show. LSU hit .309 and had a season-high 70 kills in the afternoon.
Washington, combined with Robinson’s match-high 27 kills on .316 hitting percentage, led the way offensively for LSU. This offensive statement was all thanks to setter Lauren Brooker, who contributed a career-high 56 assists and nine digs, adding three kills and one block as well.
If one thing is clear, this matchup was a much needed win for this LSU team who now heads to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks with a little more confidence.
