BATON ROUGE — Just one week after playing their first home matches of the season, the LSU volleyball team returns to the road this weekend as the Tigers travel to face Georgia on Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) in the Ramsey Center in Athens before taking on No. 4 Florida on Sunday in Gainesville.
Fans can watch the match through live stats on LSU Sports Interactive at www.LSUsports.net on the live statistics page under the multimedia link.
LSU (15-4, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) swept matches from Mississippi State and Ole Miss last weekend and remain in third place in the SEC Western Division, only one game out of first. The Bulldogs (7-10, 2-5 SEC) has dropped three straight matches and lost five of its last six and stands at fifth place in the SEC East.
“Georgia is a very physically talented team and they match up very well against us,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “This will be a tough, very competitive match.”
Off to their best start in conference play since the 2001 season, the Tigers are tied for fourth in the overall league standings, but only stand one and a half games out of a tie for second. LSU has also matched the 1992 and 1993 seasons for the eighth most road wins in school history.
As a team, the Tigers lead the Bulldogs in almost every statistical category. LSU posts 16.2 kills per game, compared to 15.1 for Georgia. In addition, the Tigers average 2.0 service aces per game, while the Bulldogs record only 1.1. Defensively, LSU posts 3.0 blocks per game, while Georgia records just 2.7. The only category the Bulldogs lead in is digs per game as Georgia averages 15.4 per game compared to 14.5 per game for the Tigers.
“For us to be successful, we will have to be very solid defensively,” said Flory. “We will have to dig a lot of balls and block very well because they have several outstanding offensive weapons. On the offensive side, we will have to take care of the ball and be efficient and aggressive.”
Senior Jelena Mijatovic leads the Tigers and ranks third in the SEC with 4.32 kills per game, while leading the conference and ranking 12th in the NCAA in service aces per game at 0.66. The Belgrade, Serbia, native has posted double-figure kills in 16 of LSU’s 18 matches and has recorded a team-best seven double-doubles.
Kyna Washington, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, ranks second on the team with 3.07 kills per game. She ranks second among freshman in the league in kills per game behind only Maria Taylor of Georgia who is posting 3.41 kills per game.
Senior Ivana Kuzmic leads the team and ranks fifth in the nation in blocks per game at 1.79. The school blocks per game record holder has led the Tigers in blocks in 14 of 18 matches, including three double-figure blocking matches. Junior Melody Clark is just behind Kuzmic with a 1.11 blocks per game average, which ranks 10th in the SEC, while the pair lead the team with over .300 hitting percentages on the season.
Junior Kassi Mikulik leads LSU with 3.51 digs per game this season. The converted outside hitter has posted double-figure dig totals in 15 of 18 matches and led the team in digs in 10 matches. She is only nine digs away from becoming the 24th player in LSU history to record 700 career digs.
Georgia is led by a trio of Bulldogs offensively. Julia Petruschke averages 4.62 kills per game, followed by Alexandra Oquendo at 4.18. Taylor posts 3.41 kills per game. Following that trio of players, Georgia does not have a single player who averages over 1.36 kills per game. Oquendo leads the Bulldogs with 1.12 blocks per game, while Brooke Burlingame posts a team-best 4.10 digs per game.
Despite their success on the road this season, the Tigers face a tough challenge this weekend. LSU has not won in Athens since 2002 and the Tigers have lost four of their last six to Georgia, including three of their last four. The overall series is tied at 18 wins each, while the Bulldogs lead the series 9-6 in Athens. Last season the pair split two meetings with each team winning 3-0 at home.
Following their match with Georgia, the Tigers will travel to Gainesville to take on No. 4 Florida. The match is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CDT) unless Hurricane Wilma forces changes, which will not be determined until a later time.