GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Riding a three-match winning streak, the LSU volleyball team will close out the Southeastern Conference weekend road trip against fourth-ranked Florida on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CDT) in the O’Connell Center.
Fans can watch the match through live audio/video on LSU Sports Interactive at www.LSUsports.net on the live audio/video page under the multimedia link.
The Tigers (16-4. 6-3 SEC) swept Georgia in Athens on Friday night and are now tied for second in the SEC West with Arkansas, one game behind Alabama. The 14-time defending SEC champion Gators (19-1, 9-0 SEC) are coming off a three-game sweep of Arkansas on Friday and have lost only one game in their nine conference matches this year.
Florida’s only loss of the season was a three-game sweep by No. 9 Notre Dame in the UTSA Dome Rally. The following weekend, LSU defeated the Fighting Irish in five games in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic, the only loss for Notre Dame this season.
“This team has responded very well all year in big matches,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “This is probably our biggest match-up in the conference this season with Florida being ranked No. 4 in the nation.”
Off to their best start in conference play since the 2001 season, the Tigers are one win from matching their most overall wins since the 1995 season. LSU has also matched the 1989 season for the seventh most road wins in school history.
As a team, the Tigers and Gators are fairly evenly matched statistically. Florida averages 16.8 kills per game with a league-leading .293 hitting percentage, while LSU posts 16.2 kills per game while hitting at a .239 clip. The Gatos lead the SEC with 17.6 digs per game, while the Tigers average 14.5, but the pair both average 2.9 blocks per game.
“We feel like we are very prepared for this match,” said Flory. “We have been in a positive rhythm offensively. We know that we will have to play extremely hard and efficient, but we are excited about this opponent.”
Senior Jelena Mijatovic leads the Tigers and ranks third in the SEC with 4.30 kills per game, while leading the conference and ranking 12th in the NCAA in service aces per game at 0.65. The Belgrade, Serbia, native has posted double-figure kills in 17 of LSU’s 19 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 3.10 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 1.76. The school blocks per game record holder has led the Tigers in blocks in 14 of 19 matches, including three double-figure blocking matches. Junior Melody Clark is just behind Kuzmic with a 1.15 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 3.52 digs per game this season. The converted outside hitter has posted double-figure dig totals in 16 of 19 matches and led the team in digs in 10 matches. On Friday, she became the 24th player in school history to record 700 career digs.
Florida is led by reigning SEC Player of the Year Jane Collymore with 4.30 kills per game, followed by Marcie Hampton with 3.03 and Kisya Killingsworth with 3.00. Killingsworth leads the Gators with 1.36 blocks per game, while Rachel Engel leads Florida with 5.59 digs per game.
Florida leads the overall series 23-12 and have won the last 19 consecutive meetings with the Tigers. The Gators have lost only three regular-season SEC matches since 1990, including one to LSU in 1991.
The Tigers return home to take on Auburn and Alabama next weekend. LSU will face the Auburn Tigers on Friday at 7 p.m. before closing out the weekend against the SEC West-leading Crimson Tide on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.