Oct. 7, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. — The South Carolina Gamecocks (13-6, 2-6 SEC) battled hard for two sets, but LSU (7-10, 3-5 SEC) finished stronger, taking a three-set win 29-27, 25-23, 25-12, on Sunday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Madie Jones and Helen Boyle led LSU with 15 kills each, with Jones hitting .517 while Boyle added 13 digs. Desiree Elliott added 14 kills and a match-high six blocks. Meghan Mannari had 18 digs, most in the match, while Cati Leak added 14 and Sam Delahoussaye posted 13.
The Gamecocks’ Juliette Thévenin posted a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Bethanie Thomas added 10 kills, while junior libero Paige Wheeler tallied 12 digs. Senior setter Taylor Bruns had three kills, 34 assists and nine digs.
LSU claimed the tight first set, 29-27. The Gamecocks had three set-point tries, all after kills by Thévenin, who had seven kills in the set. But the Tigers took the frame with a three-point run to close it, with Jones’ tip tying it at 27 and Boyle’s cross-court kill ending it. The Gamecocks hit .306 in the first frame, with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Cara Howley tallying five kills on six swings. Jones posted seven kills without an error in the first, leading the Tigers.
South Carolina started the second strong, holding a 17-10 lead at one point, but LSU stormed back to take the second 25-23. The Tigers went on a 12-1 run to take a 22-18 lead, with Boyle posting three kills in the stretch. The Gamecocks tied it at 23-23 on three Thévenin kills, but LSU finished the frame with consecutive kills by Jones. Thévenin had eight kills without an error in the frame, while Elliott tallied seven kills and Jones six for the Tigers.
The Tigers closed out the match with a 25-12 set-three win. A seven-point run gave the Tigers a 13-4 lead, and the home team closed the frame on a six-point skein. Boyle posted eight kills in the set, while Leak made eight digs. LSU held South Carolina to a .049 hitting percentage in the final stanza.
The teams tied with two aces each, while LSU claimed the other stat categories.
The Gamecocks come home for a match on Friday, hosting Alabama at 7 p.m. EDT for the team’s annual Dig Pink night.
