BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team concludes a nine-match road trip at the Mean Green Classic in Denton, Texas, against North Texas, Oral Roberts and UTEP on Friday and Saturday at The Snake Pit.
The Tigers (3-6) take on Oral Roberts on Friday at 5 p.m., followed by North Texas against UTEP at 7 p.m. On Saturday, LSU begins play at 11 a.m. against UTEP before North Texas battles Oral Roberts at 1:30 p.m. Oral Roberts then faces UTEP at 4:30 p.m. before the Tigers close out the tournament against North Texas at 7 p.m.
“This is a great opportunity for us to get back into the win column,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We are going up against teams that are also young and not as developed.
“We will still need to play well to be successful,” Flory continued. “After the pre-conference schedule that we have played so far, with two top 15 teams, we should be very prepared for tough competition and have all the tools to be successful this weekend.”
The Tigers finished fourth in the Wildcat Classic last weekend in Manhattan, Kan. Junior Regan Hood was named to the all-tournament team.
Hood earned the honor after averaging 4.82 kills per game with a career-high 24 kills against defending Conference-USA champion South Florida. In addition, she recorded seven blocks, including four block solos, and 15 digs.
North Texas enters the tournament with a 7-6 record, while Oral Roberts is 4-8 and UTEP is 5-6. This will be LSU’s first appearance in the Mean Green Classic. The Tigers are 1-0 all-time against North Texas, defeating the Mean Green, 2-0, in Arlington, Texas, in 1981.
LSU is 2-1 all-time against Oral Roberts. The Tigers are 1-0 against the Golden Eagles in Baton Rouge and 1-1 at neutral sites. The last meeting was in 1983 at the Texas A&M Classic in College Station, Texas. This will be the first meeting between LSU and UTEP.
LSU opens Southeastern Conference play at home next week with a trio of matches in the Maravich Center. The Tigers host Arkansas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before taking on South Carolina, which is receiving votes in the latest AVCA/USA Today poll, on Friday at 7 p.m. LSU rounds out play during the opening week of SEC action against Kentucky on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.