Oct. 31, 2014
BATON ROUGE, La. — The South Carolina volleyball team dropped a four-set decision at LSU on Friday, as the Tigers won by the scores of 23-25, 25-20, 25-15 and 25-21 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
With the loss, the Gamecocks fall to 15-8 on the season and 5-5 in SEC play. LSU improves to 13-7 overall and 8-3 in the conference.
Carolina out-blocked the Tigers 10-6, but LSU held the advantage in hitting percentage (.299-.228), kills (67-44) and digs (63-58).
The Gamecocks got off to a strong start, outhitting LSU .306-.196 in the first set on their way to a 25-23 win. Freshman outside hitter Taylr McNeil and sophomore KoKo Atoa-Williams tallied four and three kills, respectively, for Carolina in the set. However, LSU bounced back to hit .519 in the second set and .333 in the third set to win both and take a 2-1 lead. The Tigers built a 20-14 lead in the fourth set, but the Gamecocks scrapped back and went on a 7-3 run to pull to within 23-21 on a LSU attack error. However, the Tigers scored the next two points to win the match.
McNeil and Atoa-Williams recorded 10 kills each to pace the Gamecocks. Atoa-Williams also had eight digs and three blocks. Junior middle blocker Darian Dozier and junior right side Sarah Blomgren had seven kills each. Dozier also added three blocks. Junior setter Kellie McNeil recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 12 assists, 13 digs, six kills and five blocks, while freshman setter Allie Monserez finished with 20 assists and six digs. Senior libero Mikaela Christiaansen had a match-high 16 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Briana Holman led LSU with 21 kills and four blocks, while outside hitter Gina Tillis finished with 17 kills while hitting .406. Cati Leak added 10 kills for the Tigers, and setter Malorie Pardo had 52 assists, six kills and four digs. Junior outside hitter Katie Lindelow finished with 15 digs and nine kills, and junior libero Haley Smith pitched in 16 digs for the Tigers.
Match Changer
After the Gamecocks won the first set and held LSU to a .196 hitting percentage, the Tigers responded by hitting .519 in the second set and .333 in the third set to win both and take a 2-1 lead.
Key Stat
Tillis and Holman combined for 38 of LSU’s 67 kills, with Tillis hitting .406 and Holman hitting .300.
Notable
• Kellie McNeil recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 12 assists and 13 digs as well as six kills and five blocks.
• Christiaansen tallied a match-high 16 digs. She has now reached double figures in digs in all 23 matches this season.
• The Gamecocks out-blocked LSU 10-6. Carolina has out-blocked its opponents in 16 of 23 matches this season.
• The win was LSU’s eighth straight in SEC play.
Up Next
The Gamecocks will face Ole Miss on Sunday in Oxford, Miss. First serve is set for 2 p.m. ET, and the match will be televised on the SEC Network.
