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LSU Volleyball (0-1) was defeated by Michigan (1-0) during its season opener in four sets on Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU won the first set, 25-23. Michigan would win the next three sets, 25-22, 25-14, and 25-20, to claim the match.

Due to Hurricane Ida, the final two matches of the Tiger Classic, scheduled for Saturday evening, have been canceled. The two early matches are still on schedule to be played.

Senior middle blocker Whitney Foreman led the team in both kills (12) and blocks (5). Senior Taylor Bannister had nine kills and five digs, and graduate transfer outside hitter Kylie Deberg also added nine kills with 12 digs in her debut for the Tigers.

Michigan was led by Paige Jones, who had a game-high 19 kills. Jess Mruzik recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs for the Wolverines.

Michigan outhit LSU, .210-.119, and recorded 72 digs to LSU’s 63. Michigan also tallied more kills with 57, while the Tigers recorded 41 kills.

“It was a tale of two mentalities,” said Fran Flory, who began her 24th season as the Head Coach of the Tigers. “We fought hard, but you can’t play from behind when someone else is targeting every ball… It’s a good learning curve, Michigan is a good team.”

How It Happened

Set 1

• Michigan jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Allee Morris tallied a kill and a block to cut the deficit to one.
• Whitney Foreman recorded two kills and a block in the span of three plays to give LSU a multi-point advantage
• LSU and Michigan traded punches, with 10 total ties throughout the set.
• After falling behind 23–22, the Tigers rattled off three straight points thanks to kills from Taylor Bannister, Sanaa Dotson, and Allee Morris to close out the set.
• Whitney Foreman finished the set leading the Tigers in kills (five) and blocks (two)

Set 2

• Allee Morris and Whitney Foreman each tallied a pair of kills, and Jill Bohnet recorded an ace as LSU began with a 9-7 lead.
• Kylie Deberg produced three kills in four points to extend the Tigers’ lead to 12-9.
• Michigan chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 16-15 before winning four straight points to lead 19-16
• Despite more kills from Deberg and Morris, the Tigers could not regain the lead, losing 25-23.

Set 3

• Michigan began the third set with three kills and an ace to take a 4-0 lead.
• Despite valiant rallies from the Tigers, they could not consistently put the ball away, and trailed 9-5 before conceding four straight points as their deficit widened.
• Kills from Kylie Deberg and Whitney Foreman and a Michigan error cut the lead to 13-8, but Michigan would go on a run of six straight points to make it 19-8.
• The Tigers would continue to fight, with Deberg tallying two more kills, but ended up dropping the set 25-14.

Set 4

• Michigan again started strong, climbing to an early 4-1 advantage.
• After a Kylie Deberg kill made it 5-3 in favor of Michigan, the Wolverines would record a run of five straight points to make it 10-3 before LSU responded with three straight points of their own.
• Michigan would stretch the lead to 13-7 before Taylor Bannister recorded three straight kills. Michigan responded with another five consecutive points to make their lead 18-10.
• LSU won four straight points, including a Taylor Bannister kill and Ella Larkin ace, but Michigan would take five of the next six points to lead 24-16.
• LSU would continue to fight valorously, winning four straight points before bowing out, 25-20.