LSU’s Gina Tillis Records 1,000th Kill In Win Over Ole Miss

  0 Carly DeMarque | October 19th, 2017 | College - Women's Indoor, News, SEC

Match Results

  • LSU def. Ole Miss 3-2, (25-22, 25-27, 25-23, 28-30, 19-17)
  • LSU improves to 16-4, 7-2 SEC, Ole Miss falls to 13-9, 4-5 SEC
  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Attendance: 1,003
  • Match Stats

The LSU Tigers battled it out against Ole Miss for a thrilling five-set win that marks one of the longest matches for the Tigers since 2000.

The opening set saw Ole Miss take the 13-10 then 15-12 lead over the Tigers but LSU began to slowly fight back to take a 17-16 lead late. The two teams traded off points until LSU went on a 5-0 run to finish out the set 25-22. The Tigers finished the first set with an impressive 23 kills on a .463 hitting clip.

In the second set, LSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead and continued to push this lead ahead to 8-4. Runs continued to give the Tigers the advantage in the set but the Rebels fought their way back to tie it up at 18-18. LSU held match point at 24-22 before Ole Miss went on a 5-1 run to tie up the match 1-1 with a 27-25 second set score.

Ole Miss started things off in the third set with a 7-3 lead but the Tigers fought back to tie it up at 10-10. Late in the set, Ole Miss took the 21-17 lead but the Tigers fought their way back on a 7-0 run to take the 24-21 set advantage. Ole Miss battle off two set points before LSU claimed the third 25-23.

The fourth saw the Tigers take a 5-4 lead early but the Rebels put together a 10-4 run to go up 14-9. Ole Miss continued to build on this lead to 19-12 but LSU was resilient and fought their way back into the match. The Tigers went on a 10-4 run of their own late to take the 25-24 set lead, needing one point to end things. Ole Miss came out swinging and took the fourth in extra points 30-28.

Down to the fifth and deciding set of the match, Ole Miss came out with the early 6-4 lead over the Tigers but LSU battled back with a 5-2 run to take the 8-7 lead. From there the Rebels jumped out to a 14-12 lead but the Tigers held off the match points to tie things up at 14 all. LSU fought through extra points late in the fifth to take the match 19-17.

Gina Tillis accomplished a huge feat on the night, as she recorded her 1,000th career kill to become the 22nd Tiger to accomplish the feat. In the match, Tillis recorded 15 kills and 23 digs for a double-double. Taylor Bannister led the squad with 21 kills and six blocks while Olivia Beyer nearly recorded a double-double with 10 kills and nine blocks. Setter Lindsay Flory produced a double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs in the win while Raigen Cianciulli and Kelly Quinn picked up 21 and 13 digs, respectively.

Tillis, Cianciulli, Quinn and Flory’s double-digit dig performances records the second straight match for the Tigers where four players accomplished the feat. Additionally, LSU’s 79 kills is the most in a match since the team recorded 80 in a four-set win over Ole Miss on October 11, 2013.

For the Rebels, three players recorded double-doubles – Lexi Thompson with 19 kills and 12 digs, Kate Gibson with 18 kills and 17 digs and Emily Stroup with 15 kills and 21 digs. Nayo Warnell was close on the double-double feat with nine kills and eight blocks while Caroline Adams picked up 16 digs.

Press Release

Courtesy of LSU Athletics

In what marked the longest match in time since at least 2000, the LSU volleyball team (16-4, 7-2 SEC) won its fifth straight match, claiming a five-set thriller over Ole Miss (13-9, 4-5 SEC) by scores of 25-22, 25-27, 25-23, 28-30 and 19-17 Wednesday evening in the Maravich Center.

The Tigers were led by freshman Taylor Bannister, who finished the match with 21 kills, her fourth 20-kill match. Senior Gina Tillis, who recorded her 1,000 kill in her career Wednesday night, finished with 15 kills and a career-high 23 digs, her eighth double-double on the year.  Freshman Raigen Cianciulli chipped in 21 digs while Olivia Beyer and Toni Rodriguez each had 10 kills.

Fran’s Final Thoughts
On the win tonight …
“This team continues to be resilient. Tonight we got in the most dangerous situation we possibly could have and we really backed ourselves in to a corner. You have to credit Ole Miss. We knew they were the best defensive team. We knew they were going to keep the ball off the floor, but their offense was really good today. They matched us swing-for-swing after the first set. We had 23 kills in the first set. That is ridiculous. That doesn’t happen. They made us play as clean as we possibly could. It was a gritty performance for our team. Our backs were against the wall. Credit our team for being resilient and handling that adversity and bouncing back when we did not get what we wanted.”

On the crowd tonight …
“I can’t credit them enough. I know they came for cupcakes, but they also came for volleyball. This place is turning into a volleyball arena. This school and this program, we have been close before but we are about to take off. The people that are coming out, the students, the community, they are making a huge difference for us and I can’t say enough about the environment. The other SEC coaches are talking about it. This is a game changer for us and these are the matches that it makes a difference and you have to credit them with the win too.”

On her final thoughts on the win …
“We are really tired. We had a bunch of matches stacked up back-to-back-to-back. We have to rest to get better. Thankfully fall break is here and we will actually get some time off. So we will rest and recover. I am super proud of the performance of these kids. They were not going to be denied and they weren’t.”

Opening Set
LSU and Ole Miss traded points to start the match. Ole Miss went on a 3-0 run to take a 13-10 lead and pushed to a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout. LSU worked its way back to take a 17-16 lead. The Tigers and the Rebels traded points before LSU went on a 5-0 run to finish out the set and take a 1-0 lead over the Rebels. The Tigers finished the first set with 23 kills and a .463 hitting percentage.

Set Two
The Tigers jumped out to a 5-1 lead and pushed to an 8-4 lead. Another 4-0 run gave LSU a 16-13 advantage but Ole Miss fought back, tying up the set 18-18. The set was tied again at 21-21 and 22-22 before LSU scored two straight points to take a 24-22 lead. Ole Miss held off the Tigers for two straight set points and went on a 3-0 run to claim the set 27-25 and even the match 1-1.

Set Three
Ole miss got out to a 7-3 lead over the Tigers. LSU was down 10-5 to Ole Miss but went on a 5-0 run to tie up the set 10-10. Ole Miss took a 21-17 advantage but LSU fought back, scoring seven straight points to take a 24-21 lead. Ole Miss scored two straight points, but a Taylor Bannister kill sealed the third set for the Tigers and gave them a 2-1 match lead.

Set Four
LSU put together a 5-4 lead to start the fourth set but Ole Miss went on a 10-4 run to take a 14-9 lead. Ole Miss pushed its lead to 19-12 but an LSU 3-0 run brought the Tigers within four, 19-15 and forced the Rebels to a timeout. The Tigers fought back and went on a 10-4 run to take a 25-24 lead, which included three straight kills from Sydney Mukes, who came off the bench and added five kills for the set.. The Tigers had three match points but Ole Miss held them off and went on a 4-1 run to claim the fourth set and force a fifth.

Set Five
Ole Miss took a 6-4 lead but the Tigers came back with a 5-2 run to take a 8-7 advantage. Ole Miss got out to a 14-12 lead but the Tigers held off the Rebels for two straight match-points, tying the set up 14-14 after a Tillis kill. LSU had match point at 16-15 and 17-16 but Ole Miss tied it up again at 17-17. A service error and a Toni Rodriguez kill secured the victory for the Tigers.

Game Notes
>> The Tigers finished with 79 kills on the match, the most kills in a match since the Tigers recorded 80 on October 11, 2013 in a four-set win over Ole Miss.

>> This was the second straight match that the Tigers finished with at least four players in double-digits digs; Tillis (23), Cianciulli (21), Kelly Quin (13), Lindsay Flory(10).

>> The Tigers are now 6-0 on their home floor for the first time since 2010 and 5-0 in five-set matches this season.

>> Gina Tillis became a member of the 1,000 Kill Club. She is the 22nd Tiger in program history to reach the feat.

Next Up
The Tigers will have the weekend off and will return to action Friday, October 27 to take on nationally ranked Kentucky in the Maravich Center at 7 p.m. The match will be available on SEC Network+.

Volleyball Social Center For all of the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @lsuvolleyball and @lsucoachfran on Twitter and @lsuvolleyball on Instagram.

Press Release

Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

In a marathon match that lasted three hours, the Ole Miss volleyball saved match points in the fourth set and then had match points in the fifth set, but in the end, LSU came away with the 3-2 win at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Wednesday in front of a nationally-televised audience.

Trailing 2-1 overall, the Rebels finished off an exciting end to set four, saving match points to extend the match to a fifth set. LSU won the first three points of the fifth set and the Rebels called timeout. After that, they went on a 5-0 run to go up 5-3. A back and forth affair ensued, and the Rebels had three match points at 14-12 and then again at 15-14. LSU won two straight points for their fourth match point at 16-15, but the Rebels saved it. The two teams traded points for 17-17, but then a service error handed LSU their fifth match point and they were able to convert for 19-17 and the 3-2 win.

LSU used a 5-0 run late to win a close first set 25-22. The Rebels answered late in set two to take it 27-25 and even the match at 1-1. Ole Miss led 21-17 late in set three, before the Tigers went on an 8-2 run to steal the set 25-23 and take a 2-1 lead.

Looking to extend the match, the Rebels jumped out to a 17-10 lead and had three set points at 24-21, but LSU went on a big to run to grab their first match point at 25-24. Ole Miss ended up saving two more match points and then grabbed their fourth set point 28-27, on a kill from Kate Gibson. LSU saved it again but then two straight errors allowed the Rebels to take the set 30-28 and force the fifth set.

Quick Hits…
• Ole Miss is now 13-9 overall, 4-5 in the SEC.
• Senior Lexi Thompson posted her 13th double-double of the year with 19 kills and 12 digs. She hit .235.
• Senior Kate Gibson added her SEC-leading 15th double-double of the season with 18 kills and 17 digs.
• Sophomore Emily Stroup posted her fifth double-double of the season with 15 kills and a career-high 21 digs.
• Sophomore Nayo Warnell finished with 8 blocks and also chipped in 9 kills.
• The Rebels finished with a season-high 13 blocks.
• Freshman Lauren Bars had 4 blocks and 27 assists. Sophomore Jordan Fate finished with 29 assists.

Up next…
The Rebels continue on the road with a match at Texas A&M on Sunday. First serve is set for 3:30 p.m. on SEC Network +.

For more information on Ole Miss Volleyball, follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissVB, on Facebook at OleMissVolleyball and on Instagram at OleMissVB. Also follow Coach McRoberts on Twitter, @CoachMcRoberts.

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About Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque has been involved with competitive volleyball for the majority of her life, playing competitively at the club and collegiate level for 15 years and coaching club for five. Now a retired Division I volleyball athlete out of McNeese State University, she continues her volleyball enthusiasm by stepping back into …

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