BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team hosts South Carolina on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Center in the second of five-straight Southeastern Conference home matches.
The Tigers (5-8, 0-1 SEC) were defeated in four games to preseason Western Division favorite Arkansas on Wednesday night at home in their conference opener. This match will mark the league opener for the Gamecocks, who enter the match with a 6-6 record and are receiving votes in the latest AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll.
Free purple tickets are available at all local Winn-Dixie stores and are good for admission to the match. Fans are encouraged to come join in the fun on “Totally Tiger” night.
“South Carolina will be one of the most athletic teams we face all year,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “They will be equal to say a Nebraska or Hawaii in terms of their athleticism. They do have a young team, as do we, and are continually getting better.
We will need to take advantage of our positives like ball control and defense against South Carolina. We will have to block like we did against Arkansas and be more efficient offensively.”
South Carolina enters the conference schedule as the preseason pick to finish third in the Eastern Division behind Florida and Georgia. The Gamecocks have finished second to the Gators in the East for the last six seasons.
“South Carolina is a good team and will definitely come in here with a point to prove,” said Flory. “They want to maintain their SEC record because they think they can challenge Florida for the conference title. We need to step up and when we are given the opportunities we will have to reduce our errors. I think we are making improvements and our team is getting better in every match.”
Junior Regan Hood leads the SEC with 4.85 kills per game. Against Arkansas on Wednesday, she recorded a career-high 27 kills, a mark which ties her for 10th in school history for kills in a four-game match. In addition, the Carrollton, Texas, native leads the team in block solos and ranks second on the team in total blocks. She is also third on the team with 2.15 digs per game.
With 10 blocks against Arkansas, sophomore Megan Heinz became the first LSU player to reach double digits in blocks since Megan Bedford had 10 blocks against Ole Miss on Oct. 19, 2001. With four block solos, she is tied for ninth in block solos in a four-game match. The Houston native also recorded a career-high 16 kills for her first career double-double.
LSU is 6-10 all-time against South Carolina, with a 3-7 record against the Gamecocks in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers will close out the weekend at home against Kentucky on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. LSU will host Auburn and Alabama next weekend to conclude the five-match homestand.