BATON ROUGE — LSU right side hitter Marina Skender was named the Southeastern Conference Player and Freshman of the Week, as announced by the league office, while the Tigers picked up votes in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 poll.
Skender led LSU (10-1) to a 2-0 record on the week to claim the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic in College Station, Texas, including a five-game win over then No. 8 Notre Dame, the first win for the Tigers over a nationally ranked team since 1992.
The freshman from Zagreb, Croatia, led the team in hitting percentage and ranked second on the team in kills, kills per game and blocks per game on the week. She posted a career-best 19 kills against the Fighting Irish and led the match with a .432 attacking percentage. In the decisive fifth game, she led both teams with four kills and also contributed a pair of blocks. In 37 attempts, she recorded only three errors and was two assists away from a double-double.
Against Arizona State in the first match of the weekend, she ranked second on the team with a then career best 13 kills, while recording five blocks and a .346 hitting percentage, which ranked second on the team in both categories.
This is the first SEC Player or Freshman of the Week honor of her career. The Tigers have been honored with two SEC Players of the Week, one SEC Defensive Player of the Week and one SEC Freshman of the Week award year.
Off to their best start since the 1991 season, the LSU volleyball team picked up 86 votes in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches poll this week to come in with 88.
Despite knocking off then No. 8 Notre Dame, the Tigers first win over a nationally ranked team since 1992, LSU failed to crack the top 25, coming in at No. 27 in the others receiving votes. The Fighting Irish, which have three wins over nationally ranked teams, including two wins over top 10 teams, dropped only three spots in the poll after their loss to the Tigers.
LSU completed the pre-conference schedule with only one blemish on its record, claiming the Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic championships. The Tigers’ only loss this season was a five-game match, decided by two points in the final game, against nationally ranked Texas A&M at the UTSA Dome Rally in San Antonio. With all 11 matches this season played on the road, LSU has won the most road matches this year since the 2002 season, when the Tigers were 12-7 away from the Maravich Center.
LSU will remain on the road to open SEC play next weekend. The Tigers were scheduled to open conference action at home, but due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the matches have been moved to Fayetteville, Ark.
LSU will now take on South Carolina on Friday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. before closing out the weekend against Tennessee, which is receiving votes in the poll, on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The matches will be played as part of doubleheaders with Arkansas. The Lady’Backs, as LSU’s travel partner in volleyball, face the same SEC teams the Tigers do each weekend.
Due to these schedule changes, LSU’s first home match has been delayed until Oct. 14 against Mississippi State. The Tigers will have been on the road for seven consecutive weekends, having played 17 road matches and traveled over 4,000 miles to start the season, before returning home to the Maravich Center in mid-October.
Women’s Division I Top 25 Volleyball Poll
Team (First-Place Votes)
1.
Nebraska (58)
9-0
1,498
1
2.
Washington (2)
9-0
1,435
2
3.
Stanford
11-1
1,380
3
4.
Penn St.
9-2
1,313
4
5.
Minnesota
10-1
1,269
5
6.
Florida
9-1
1,120
7
7.
Louisville
9-0
1,082
9
8.
Missouri
8-0
1,067
10
9.
Hawaii
5-5
1,063
6
10.
Wisconsin
8-1
947
13
11.
NotreDame
7-1
866
8
12.
Southern Cal
4-4
807
12
13.
UCLA
7-2
771
11
14.
San Diego
10-1
705
18
15.
Arizona
8-1
593
20
16.
Ohio St.
7-2
493
14
17.
Kansas St.
10-1
469
22
18.
Santa Clara
7-1
399
17
19.
Purdue
11-0
353
NR
20.
Texas A&M
7-4
315
15
21.
Saint Mary’s
8-2
303
23
22.
BYU
7-0
279
NR
23.
Texas
6-2
225
18
24.
Kansas
10-1
154
NR
25.
California
7-2
153
21
Others receiving votes: Tennessee 143, LSU 88, Long Beach St. 74, Ohio 65, UC Santa Barbara 23, Loyola Marymount 16, Utah 14, Pepperdine 8, Nevada 3.