BATON ROUGE — After sweeping a pair of matches on Friday night, the LSU volleyball team will close out the Hurricane Frances Invitational on Sunday against Central Florida at 11 a.m. in the Maravich Center.
The Tigers (2-0) defeated the Golden Knights (0-2) on Friday morning, 3-1, in first match of the tournament. Central Florida was defeated by LSU in its first match of the tournament and then lost to Rice in its second match.
“We are very please with the way we started on Friday and we hope to carry that into Sunday,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “It was a tough match against Central Florida on Friday and we will have to play well to beat them again. They are a great team and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season and won Conference USA, so we know we will have to be at the top of our game again.”
In the first match, LSU hit .219 as a team, outkilling Central Florida 62-39. The Tigers also outdug the Golden Knights, 66-53, and outblocked them, 12-10.
Regan Hood led the LSU effort with 17 kills and six blocks. Ivana Kuzmic added 11 kills and six blocks, while Kassi Mikulik recorded her fourth collegiate double-double with 11 kills and a match-best 16 digs.
Emily Watts led Central Florida with 13 kills, followed by Tanya Jarvis with 10. Watts and Jarvis each posted double-doubles as the pair recorded 12 and 11 digs respectively.
The Tigers will travel to the Texas Invitational next weekend for a two-day tournament. LSU will face host Texas, Liberty University and Louisiana Tech.