BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team looks to extend its winning streak to five on Wednesday when it faces in-state rival New Orleans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Tigers (8-5) and Privateers (5-9) have already met once this season with LSU taking a 30-24, 30-28, 30-12 victory in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic.
The win was the seventh straight over New Orleans for the Tigers dating back to 1998. UNO last beat LSU in the 1997 season.
Recently, the Tigers have been on a roll having won six of their last seven, including four straight. The run has led LSU to a 5-1 Southeastern Conference mark, its best since 1992.
The Privateers have dropped three of their last five, but knocked off UL-Lafayette, which is ranked ninth in the region, this past Friday.
“New Orleans is a team that has begun to play better as of late,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “They have always played well against us in the past and I expect them to do so again. Anytime you play a team where you know the players and coaches so well, emotions run high and anything can happen.”
LSU is led into action by a group of players that has become an offensive force over the past month. Setter Katie Kubena has set the tone for the offense, recording 12.46 assists/game while leading the Tigers to a .275 hitting percentage over the last seven matches.
Kubena has mainly distributed the ball to the Tigers three outside hitters, who have proven to be extremely efficient lately. Freshman Kyra Lancon leads the trio with 3.75 kills/game in the seven-match span while junior Jennifer Hampton and senior Meghan Bedford are just behind with 3.62 and 3.46 kills/game, respectively.
In the middle, Lauren Cuyler and Meagan Davis have continued to be solid as each is hitting over .300 while combining for over four kills/game of late.
“Our offensive efficiency has really come around since we began conference play,” said Flory. “Our outsides have become much more efficient than they have been in the past and Katie has done a great job of making decisions that help our hitters.”
New Orleans is paced by Ann MacMillan, who is averaging 3.33 kills/game en route to a .315 hitting percentage. Melissa Caravella sets the tone defensively with 1.04 blocks and 2.15 digs pre game.
“There is no question that UNO has some talented players,” Flory noted. “(Coach) Julie (Stempel-Ibeita) does a great job there and will have her team geared up to play well against us.”