BATON ROUGE — For the first time since 1993, the LSU volleyball vaulted into the top 25 poll, coming in at No. 24 in the AVCA/CSTV Coaches poll, while Ivana Kuzmic was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Matching the best start through 13 matches in school history, the 12-1 Tigers moved into the polls for the first time since falling out after being ranked No. 25 in the Sept. 20, 1993, poll. This marks the first national ranking for LSU under head coach Fran Flory, although she was an assistant on the 1991 team that also began 12-1 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
Kuzmic earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. It also marked the third conference honor for the senior from Split, Croatia this season.
Against South Carolina, the middle blocker recorded her second consecutive double-figure blocking match, coming in with 11, which was also her third double-figure blocking match of the season. She also posted her 1,000th career kill against the Gamecocks.
Two days later against Tennessee, she recorded the fifth-best hitting percentage in school history. With 10 kills and no errors on 12 attempts, she recorded a .833 mark. Earlier this season she broke the school record for hitting percentage with a .923 mark against Campbell.
For the week, she averaged 2.00 kills per game with a .412 hitting percentage. In addition, she led the team with 1.50 blocks per game. She is now averaging a conference-best 1.73 blocks per game this season with a .372 hitting percentage, seventh best in the league.
The Tigers remain on the road for the sixth straight week this weekend. LSU travels to Alabama and Auburn to continue conference play. The Tigers will play the Crimson Tide on Friday at 7 p.m. On Sunday, LSU will face Auburn at 1 p.m. The match will be aired on SEC-TV in Baton Rouge on FSN Southwest, cable channel 38.