KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After wins over Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina, the LSU volleyball team will look to make it four wins in a row as the Tigers take on No. 15 Tennessee in a Southeastern Conference match on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST) at Stokley Coliseum.
LSU (14-9, 6-7 SEC) currently stands in sixth place in the league and third in the SEC West with three matches remaining. The Tigers need one more win to guarantee themselves of a place in the SEC Tournament in two weeks. The Lady Vols (23-2, 12-1 SEC) ranks second in the conference standings, a half game behind Florida.
“At this point in the season, every match is important,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We think that we match up well athletically with Tennessee, but they have been playing with a lot of confidence. They have put together a great season and we know that we will have to play well to beat them at their place.”
This season, LSU is 0-2 against nationally ranked teams, falling to both top-10 ranked Florida and Texas earlier in the season. The Tigers, however, do have a win over Rice, which is receiving votes in the current poll.
As a team, Tennessee leads LSU statistically on the offensive side of the net; recording 17.4 kills per game, compared to 14.8 for the Tigers. However, the Tigers post 2.7 blocks per game, compared to 2.6 for the Lady Vols. In addition, LSU records 1.7 service aces per game, while Tennessee posts just 1.5 a game.
Junior Jelena Mijatovic leads the Tigers with 3.38 kills per game. In addition, she leads the league and ranks in the top five in the NCAA in service aces per game with 0.76. Against South Carolina on Friday, Mijatovic posted a season-best eight aces, the third-most in a four-game match in school history. With 61 aces this season, she has recorded the most single-season aces at LSU since 1995.
Senior Regan Hood also averages over three kills a game at 3.04. After moving from middle blocker to outside hitter three matches ago, the Carrollton, Texas, native, is averaging 4.45 kills per game. Junior Ivana Kuzmic leads the Tigers with 1.59 blocks per game, best in the SEC and in the top 20 in the nation, and she needs just six blocks for 500 in her career. Senior Rachel Pittman records 3.05 digs per game, which leads the team this season, while sophomore Daniela Romero leads the team with 11.26 assists per game.
Kristen Andre leads four Lady Vols who average over three kills per game at 3.97, followed by Yuliya Stoyanova at 3.61, Michelle Piantadosi at 3.54 and Amy Morris at 3.41. Sarah Blum leads Tennessee with 1.27 blocks per game, followed by Andre at 1.05. Morris posts a team-best 3.37 digs per game, while Annie Sadowski records 3.05.
LSU leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 24-14, and is 8-8 all-time in Knoxville. The Tigers are 3-1 in their last four meetings with the Lady Vols, but the only loss was on the road at Stokley Coliseum.
The Tigers will close out the regular season next weekend with matches at Arkansas on Friday and at Ole Miss on Sunday. LSU lost to the Lady’Backs in three games, and dropped a five-game match to the Lady Rebels earlier this season.