Volleyball battles No. 24 LSU in loss

BATON ROUGE, La. – Jasmine Norton and Kelli Stipanovich picked up 16 and 10 kills, respectively, Friday evening as the University of Arkansas volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 24 LSU, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19. Arkansas (10-11, 4-6) were held to a .123 hitting percentage, while the Tigers posted a .316 mark. Norton had a .364 hitting performance, her second-highest effort of the Southeastern Conference season.In the opening set, the Tigers rode the arms of Marina Skender and Lauren DeGirolamo who totaled seven and four kills, respectively, in the stanza. LSU (14-4, 8-1) jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but the Razorbacks responded to tie the score at 9-9 on an attack error by their opponents. The Tigers won four of the next five points, however, to take a three-point lead. Arkansas would get as close as two the rest of the set, but the Tigers stretched their lead to as many as seven before taking the opener, 25-17.LSU took an early lead in the second, but back-to-back kills by Norton brought the Razorbacks to within one, trailing 6-5. As they did all match, the Tigers responded with a string of points to pad their lead. Arkansas stayed closed throughout the set and pulled to within two at 17-15 on a kill by Kristin Seaton. The Tigers won the next two points, however, to force a timeout from head coach Robert Pulliza.After the timeout, LSU increased its lead and arrived at set point, 24-17, after a kill by Skender. In a show of resiliency, the Razorbacks reeled off four consecutive points behind a pair of kills each by Norton and Stipanovich and trailed, 24-21. But on their fifth set point, the Tigers set up a block to negate an Arkansas attack and head into intermission with a two-set lead.In the final set, the Razorbacks fell behind but only trailed by two at 6-4. The 24th-ranked team in the nation showed its resolve again by winning seven of the next eight points to take a 13-5 lead. LSU maintained its advantage and built a ten-point lead at match point, 24-14. As they did in the second set, the Razorbacks fought to stay alive with five consecutive points until a service error brought an end to the match.After an open date Sunday, the Razorbacks return to action with a road trip to Florida and South Carolina with matches set for Oct. 23 and 25, respectively, to begin their second turn through the conference schedule. For more information, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

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