BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team travels to New Orleans this weekend to battle a trio of in-state rivals in the Sugar Bowl Classic on the Tulane campus.
The action begins with the Tigers (2-1) facing Louisiana Tech (2-3) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. the tournament will conclude on Saturday as LSU faces UNO (0-3) at 11:30 a.m. and Tulane (3-2) at 7 p.m.
“This tournament is going to be a great showcase of Louisiana volleyball,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Every team has gone through a transformation with a new coach over the last few years. I think the quality of competition we will face this weekend is a tribute to the level of play the new coaches have brought to their programs.”
Last year, the Tigers defeated Tulane and UNO, 3-0, as part of the Sugar Bowl Classic. LSU also defeated UNO 3-0 later in the season.
The Tigers are now 38-15 all-time against Tulane and 43-2 all-time against UNO. The last time LSU faced Louisiana Tech was a 3-2 Tiger win as part of the TCU Invitational during the 1998 season. LSU is now 4-0 all-time against the Lady Techsters.
“This is not going to be a tournament where the favorite wins every match,” said Flory. “I think there are going to be a few upsets this weekend. Betsy Becker at Tulane has an athletic team that is very dynamic on the court. UNO is a scrappy team that has some great young talent for Julie Stempel Ibieta. Heather Mazeitis is in just her second year at Louisiana Tech but has done a tremendous job turning that program around.”
In the Texas A&M Invitational last weekend, the Tigers defeated Texas-San Antonio and Alcorn State, 3-0, before dropping a five-game match to the 17th-ranked Aggies.
Senior Jennifer Hampton recorded the 35th and 36th double-doubles of her career against UTSA and Texas A&M. With 989 career kills, she should become just the 12th person in school history to reach 1,000 career kills this weekend.
Senior setter Katie Kubena had an outstanding performance last weekend, recording 118 assists with 28 digs and six blocks. sophomore Regan Hood also added 25 kills with a team-high 11 blocks for LSU.
Freshmen Cara Causey and Megan Heinz shined in their first outings as tigers. The pair combined for 35 kills and 11 blocks on the weekend.
After the Sugar Bowl Classic, LSU will host Florida A&M in the home opener on Friday, Sept. 13 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m.