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Nov. 26, 2004

Final Stats

BATON ROUGE, La. - Senior outside hitter Lindsey Norman posted a double-double with 22 kills and 20 digs, but it was not enough as the Tulane University volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision to arch-rival LSU at the SEC/C-USA Challenge Friday evening at the Maravich Center.

Tulane dropped the first two games, 33-31 and 30-18, and faced match point four times in game three before gutting out a 34-32 win. The Green Wave won game four, 30-25, and overcame a 5-0 run by the Tigers at the start of game five before battling back to tie the stanza at 11 all. From there, however, the Tigers outscored the Green Wave 4-2 the rest of the way to seal the victory.

With the loss, Tulane's first to a team from Louisiana since the 2002 season which snaps a 13-match winning streak against teams from the state, the Green Wave fall to 17-11 on the year. LSU, meanwhile, improves to 17-11.

Norman was joined in the double-digit kill club by fellow senior outside hitter Anastasia Kenon (20), senior middle blocker Deva Fowler, 17, and sophomore right-side hitter Blair Moon (10). Kenon and Moon also joined Norman in the double-double club after finishing with 12 and 14 digs, respectively. Junior Kelli Dickson, who began the game as the setter before switching to libero in game three, had 27 assists and a match-best 25 digs.

In the first game, LSU used a 4-0 run early in the game on its way to a five-point lead, 10-5. Tulane returned the favor with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 11 all. The Tigers once again stretched out to a four-point lead, 19-15, but with LSU leading 27-24, the Green Wave came back to tie the game at 29 all. After the Tigers fought off a game point, LSU took the first game, 33-31.

In the second game, the Tigers used a 5-0 run midway through to break a 7-7 tie and pull ahead, 12-7. With LSU leading 20-15, the Tigers went on a 10-3 run to close out the game in dominant fashion, 30-18.

With the third game tied at 10 all, Tulane went on a 9-3 run to gain a six-point advantage. The Tigers came back to tied the game at 24 all. After two more ties, LSU had the first of four game points, but could not close out the match. The Green Wave took advantage of their first game point to take the third game, 34-32.

Tulane jumped out to a six-point lead early in the fourth game, 12-6, but the Tigers scored five straight to get to within one, 12-11. The Green Wave came back to take a seven-point advantage, 25-18, but LSU would not go away. The Tigers got within four points, 29-25, but could get no closer as Tulane sent the match to a fifth game with a 30-25 win.

LSU came out and struck with a 5-0 run to start the fifth game. The Green Wave got back within two, 6-4, before finally tying it up at 11 all. After two more tied scores, the Tigers closed out the match, 15-13, on back-to-back kills by Kassi Mikulik and Vanesssa Freeman.

Mikulik led five LSU players with double-digit kill totals with a career-best 24. Setter Daniela Romero recorded 63 assists and paced the Tigers with 20 digs.

The Green Wave close out the 2004 season on Saturday when take on Alabama at 3 p.m. in the first match of day two of the SEC/C-USA Challenge.