Oct. 9, 2009
BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina (10-7, 2-6 SEC) dropped its fourth-consecutive match, as LSU (12-4, 6-1 SEC) took a 25-12, 25-16, 25-23 win over the Gamecocks on Friday evening in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Senior Sarah Cline once again topped the Gamecocks defensively, making a match-high 15 digs. Cline has now recorded double-digit digs in every match this season. Senior setter Bridget Denson-Dorman had a double-double with 18 assists and 12 digs, while senior Ivana Kujundzic topped the squad with eight kills. LSU setter Sam Dabbs fell just shy of a triple-double, making 34 assists and 12 digs to go with nine kills. Marina Skender led the Tigers with 12 kills, while Michele Williams had a match-best 16 points on nine kills, four aces and five blocks.
LSU posted a seven-point run early in the first and never looked back in the 25-12 win. A five-point skein ended the frame, with Angela Bensend getting two kills and Brittnee Cooper ending the set as she started it, with a smash. The Tigers hit .389 in the first while holding the Gamecocks to a .097 output on just seven kills.
A five-point LSU run gave the gold-clad hosts an 11-6 lead in the second. Williams had a huge hand in the run, getting a back-row kill ahead of three aces, with two of those deflecting off the net cord. Williams had three-straight kills in a four-point LSU run that made it 18-11 in favor of the Tigers. A Gamecock service error followed by an attacking error gave LSU a 25-16 set two victory. Williams accounted for 9.5 of LSU’s points.
After the Tigers posted five points of six in an early part of the third to take an 8-3 lead, South Carolina fought back, getting to within two at 13-11 after a Kujundzic kill and an ace in a three-point run. LSU went back up, 19-13, after a four-point run that included two block assists and a kill from Williams. But the Gamecocks responded with a four-point string of their own, forcing LSU to use its first timeout of the night at 19-17. After swapping side-outs, the Tigers got to set point after kills by Bensend, Cooper and Lauren DeGirolamo. But South Carolina came right back, taking four straight points to cause another LSU timeout at 24-23. Out of the timeout, the Tigers went to the senior Skender, who smashed one down the left line to end the frame, 25-23, and match in favor of LSU.
LSU led every statistical category on the night, including getting 49 kills to South Carolina’s 29. The Gamecocks are still winless at night in SEC play, falling in all five evening starts in league play this season.
South Carolina returns to action on Friday, Oct. 16 at Georgia. Match time is set for 7 p.m. in Athens.
