Gator Country

Florida redshirt senior outside hitter Kristina Johnson goes up for a kill during the Gators' 3-1 loss to LSU at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Friday. / Gator Country photo by Casey Brooke Lawson

No. 19/17 LSU’s Brittnee Cooper and Marina Skender combined for 36 of the team’s 52 kills en route to a 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17) win against the No. 10/11 University of Florida volleyball team on Friday evening in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The Gators (20-4, 14-3 Southeastern Conference) were led by sophomore outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel, who turned in a team-high 18 kills as one of three Florida players in double-figure kills. Jaeckel also added nine digs and three blocks for a team-high 20.5 points.

Sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy charted her NCAA Division I leading eighth triple-double of the season and the 14th of her career with 13 kills on .333 hitting with 29 assists and 15 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Colleen Ward followed with 11 kills and seven digs.

Senior libero Elyse Cusack finished with a match-high 20 digs and became just the third player in SEC history to eclipse the 2,000-dig mark for her collegiate career. UF’s all-time career digs leader, Cusack currently ranks third in SEC history in career digs and needs 37 more to tie former Kentucky standout Jenni Casper for second-place all-time.

Sophomore middle blocker Cassandra Anderson recorded six kills on .600 hitting with four digs and a team-high four blocks. It marked the 15th time in 24 matches this season that Anderson has charted four or more blocks in a single contest. Junior outside hitter Callie Rivers added six kills and three blocks, while junior setter Brynja Rodgers dished out 18 assists.

Photo Gallery: UF Volleyball vs. LSU, 11/13/09 (click here to view gallery)

DIRECTORY OF GATOR COUNTRY PHOTO GALLERIES

About the author

jumper42

Casey Brooke Lawson earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Florida in December 2008. Lawson was born in Sarasota, Fla., but now still resides in Gainesville, Fla. Lawson picked up her first camera before she could walk, and now, 24 years later, she has made a career of her first love. She has been working as a photojournalist for eight years. She began at her high school, Sarasota High School, interned with the Gainesville Sun, Sarasota Herald Tribune, The Independent Florida Alligator and Sports Illustrated. Now, Lawson is a regularly contributing photojournalist for Gator Country. Trained in sports photography by Gator Country's own Tim Casey, sports photojournalism has become one of Lawson's favorite parts of her job.

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