ATHENS, Ga. — The LSU volleyball team will close out a four-match Southeastern Conference road trip with a rematch against Georgia on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) in the Ramsey Center.
The Tigers (10-7, 2-5 SEC) swept the Bulldogs (11-5, 4-3 SEC), 30-28, 30-21, 30-27, in Baton Rouge to open conference play. LSU fell to No. 10 Florida, 3-0, in Gainesville on Friday, while Georgia was a 3-2 winner over Arkansas at home.
“We did some good things against Florida on Friday night and hopefully we can carry that into this match,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We know that Georgia has adjusted for us since we played them last, but we have also made some adjustments. We have to take care of things on our side of the net and play our game.”
In their first meeting with Georgia this season, junior Jelena Mijatovic led the team with 17 kills and 12 digs, while sophomore Kassi Mikulik also recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.
Senior Rachel Pittman led LSU with 16 digs, while senior Regan Hood posted a team-best four blocks. Junior Ivana Kuzmic recorded 12 kills, while sophomore Daniela Romero was a digs away from a double-double with 42 assists and nine digs.
The Tigers out dueled the Bulldogs in almost every statistical category, out killing, out hitting and out digging Georgia. The pair were tied with seven blocks each.
For the season, LSU is led by Kuzmic, who ranks 11th in the NCAA with 1.67 blocks per game and posts a team-best .282 hitting percentage. Mijatovic leads LSU with 2.88 kills per game and ranks in the top 30 in the nation in service aces per game. Romero posts a team-best 10.92 assists per game, while Pittman leads the team with 2.87 digs per game.
Alexandra Oquendo leads Georgia both offensively and defensively, averaging 4.37 kills per game while hitting at a .400 clip with 1.32 blocks per game. Brooke Burlingame leads the Bulldogs in digs with 3.45 per game, while Margot Wallace posts a team-best 12.75 assists per game.
The Tigers return home next weekend for a match against Kentucky on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Maravich Center. LSU will then host Arkansas the following Tuesday at 7 p.m., before a rematch with Auburn and Alabama on the weekend.