FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team swept LSU (25-20, 25-29, 25-22) Wednesday night at Barnhill Arena. Jasmine Norton had a team-high 12 kills and Amanda Anderson had eight kills on a match-best .350 hitting percentage. Defensively, the Razorbacks held LSU to a .077 hitting percentage en route to the victory. Arkansas’ win snaps an 11-match losing streak to the Tigers and moves the Razorbacks into a tie for first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
The Razorbacks’ defensive effort was paced by 14 digs from Kelli Stipanovich and Christa Alvarez and six total blocks from Anderson. From her setter position, Raymariely Santos finished the night with 25 assists, nine digs and three kills. Roslandy Acosta added four total blocks for Arkansas.
“Every win in the SEC is a big win,” head coach Robert Pulliza said. “We’ve talked to the team about treating every match as a must win down the stretch. We did that today. We went out there, executed and got it done so I’m very excited for our team.”
In the opening set, the teams traded points early until LSU (14-8, 7-5 SEC) took a 10-7 lead after a kill by Desiree Elliott. Arkansas (15-8, 7-5 SEC) made push to tie the game at 13-all but the visitors went back ahead to maintain the momentum. A kill by the Tigers’ Helen Boyle put LSU ahead by two, 17-15, and forced a timeout from head coach Robert Pulliza.
The Razorbacks made their move out of the timeout, winning nine of the next 11 points to take control of play. After struggling through the early stage of the match, Norton registered five kills down the stretch of set one. Acosta brought Arkansas to set point with a kill. On the team’s second opportunity to close out the set, Norton found the floor to clinch the game, 25-20.
Using the momentum from its win in the opener, Arkansas went out to an 11-8 lead after an attack error from its opponent. At the media timeout, the Razorbacks led 15-13 after a kill from Norton. LSU made a run to go ahead, 18-17, after a kill from Michele Williams.
Facing their first deficit since the opening points of the set, the home team reeled off five points in a row to take a 22-18 lead. During the stretch, Arkansas benefitted from three consecutive attack errors by Williams. The Tigers won the next point but the Razorbacks won the final three points of the set to go into the locker room with the two-set match lead. On set point, Acosta notched a kill to close out the game, 25-19.
Arkansas won four of the first five points of the third set but the visitors fought back to tie the score and eventually take the lead. With the score tied at 11-all, the Tigers won four of five points and led 15-12 at the media timeout. However, the next six points ended in favor of the Razorbacks. During the run, Arkansas had consecutive tandem blocks from Acosta and Kasey Heckelman.
Santos gave the Razorbacks a 22-18 advantage with a second-ball kill. LSU made one final surge and pulled to within one after back-to-back kills from Elliott. Pulliza stalled the run with a timeout. Norton and Anderson teamed up for a block of Elliott to give Arkansas match point. On the next play, LSU setter Malorie Pardo sent an attack long to give the victory to the Razorbacks.
“As a senior, this is a really big week for me,” Stipanovich said. “(During my career,) we had never beaten LSU and we’ve never won in Starkville. Now, we’ve beaten LSU and we just have to keep that energy going into Starkville.”