BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team will close out the regular season on the road against Southeastern Conference rival Alabama on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the CAVE.
The Tigers (11-17, 6-9 SEC) are currently in a three-way tie for sixth place in the SEC with South Carolina and Kentucky. The outcome of Sunday’s matches will determine LSU’s seeding in the league tournament next weekend in Columbia, S.C.
If the Tigers defeat Alabama (16-12, 10-5 SEC), LSU should be no worse than the seventh seed, and could move into the sixth seed position. If LSU falls to the Crimson Tide, then the Tigers could be no better than seventh and may be seeded eighth.
“This match is important to us because we need to win in order to try and move into the sixth seed for the tournament,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Alabama has been playing well and we will have to play well in order to beat them at their place. I thought we did some good things at Arkansas on Wednesday night and we will need to take advantage of all of our opportunities to be successful.”
Alabama is currently in second place in the SEC West and third overall. The Crimson Tide hold a one game advantage over both Georgia and Tennessee.
In their first meeting with the Crimson Tide, the Tigers dropped a 3-0 decision to Alabama in Baton Rouge. LSU fought off match point three times to tie the first game at 29, before taking the lead 30-29, but could not close it out. The Crimson Tide went on to win the first game, 34-32.
In the second game, Alabama took the early lead and went on to win the game convincingly, 30-16. The Tigers rebounded in the third game to take a 13-9 lead. Leading 16-12, the Crimson Tide used a 6-2 run to tie the game at 18. Tied at 23, Alabama scored three straight to take the 26-23 advantage. LSU got back to within one, 27-26, but the Crimson Tide scored the final three points and took the game and the match, 30-26.
The Tigers were led by Regan Hood with 12 kills. The junior also led the team with five blocks. For the season, she leads the team with 4.32 kills per game and ranks seventh all-time in LSU history with a 1.05 blocks per game average.
Freshman Markeisha Constant added 11 kills and two blocks for the Tigers against the Tide, while freshman Kassi Mikulik added a team-best 14 digs.
For the year, sophomore Megan Heinz leads the team with 1.24 blocks per game, while freshman Lauren Leaumont leads the team with 2.44 digs per game. Freshman Daniela Romero ranks ninth in the league and leads the team with 10.91 assists per game.
The Tigers will begin play in the SEC Tournament next weekend in Columbia, S.C. LSU will play in the first round of the single elimination tournament on Friday, match time is still pending on seed. If the Tigers win, they will advance to the semifinals on Saturday. The Championship match is on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CST.