FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU volleyball team takes to the road in the Southeastern Conference for the final time on Friday when it will face defending SEC Western division champion Arkansas at 7 p.m.
The Tigers are coming off a three-game sweep of in-state rival Tulane on Tuesday, while the LadyBacks dropped a tough five-game decision to Texas on Wednesday.
“Arkansas has rallied at the end of the season,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “They’ve had some injuries and battled some adversity, but they are playing better and better as the season goes along.”
The LadyBacks have won 10 of their last 13 after beginning the season by winning only three times in their opening 11 matches.
Contrary to Arkansas’ late-season rally, LSU has lost five of its last six SEC matches, three of the which came on the road.
“I think we have learned how to be a better team at this point,” Flory said. “Sometimes you have to go down to get back to the top and think we are headed back to playing the way we were in the beginning of the year. I think the best is yet to come for us.”
The Tigers, who have never beaten Arkansas in 12 tries, will be led into battle by captain Meagan Davis. The 1999 All-SEC performer has been on a tear in her past five games, averaging 2.9 kills/game en route to a .419 attack percentage in that span. She has also picked up her blocking, with a 1.2 blocks/game average in the last five matches.
She will be joined at the net by Lauren Cuyler, who moved to middle blocker just 10 matches ago. Since that time, she has recorded a 1.79 blocks/game average, which would rank No. 2 in the nation over the course of a season.
LSU, which controls its own destiny for the SEC Tournament, needs just one win in two matches this weekend against Arkansas to clinch a spot in the eight-team field. The Tigers would also make it in if either Auburn or Ole Miss loses this weekend.