AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU volleyball team completes its two-match road trip on Sunday at 2 p.m. when it faces Auburn in a battle of Southeastern Conference Western Division rivals.
LSU (14-9, 9-5 SEC) can clinch fourth place in the conference with a win while Auburn (1-22, 0-14 SEC) has no chance to reach the eight-team SEC Tournament next week.
Each team was in action on Friday with different results. Auburn dropped a three-game decision to West-leading Arkansas while LSU defeated Alabama, also in three games.
“We did a nice job of handling our business on Friday,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “But one of our goals this season was to win the games in our division and we have done that up to this point. We have the opportunity to complete another season sweep this weekend.”
The two teams have met once already this season with LSU taking an easy 3-0 victory in Baton Rouge. Last season, each team won on the others home court as they split the series.
“We played very well last time against Auburn,” Flory said. “Our offense was clicking that day and we did a solid job of containing them. But this is a new match and we will have to come out with a lot of intensity to get the job done. We haven’t played as well on Sunday’s this season, so this is a nice test for our team.”
Middle blockers Meagan Davis and Lauren Cuyler will be counted on to carry LSU. The duo combined for 20 kills while hitting .550 in Friday’s win. They also notched 12 blocks as the Tigers dominated the net.
“There is no question our middles have carried us in the past few weeks,” Flory noted. “They will need to have another big game for us to be successful.”
Junior Jennifer Hampton sparks the defense with a 3.29 digs per game average. She registered a double-double on Friday with a 13 kills and 12 digs, both team highs.
Grace Boyd is the main offensive threat for Auburn with her 2.84 kills per game average and .275 hitting percentage.