BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team looks to close out the 2005 season undefeated at home and keep its Southeastern Conference Western Division title dreams alive as the Tigers close out the regular season against Kentucky on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Center.
Fans who bring a canned food item will get into the match for free. In addition, all military personnel will receive free admittance to the match. One lucky fan will also win tickets to the Three Doors Down concert at the River Center on Sunday.
LSU (20-6, 10-5 SEC) remains in the hunt for a share of the SEC Western Division championship. If the Tigers can defeat the Wildcats (16-8, 9-5 SEC), LSU would need a Kentucky win over Arkansas on Sunday to finish in a tie with the Lady Razorbacks for the divisional championship.
“We are excited to end the regular season on our home court,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We understand the importance of this match in terms of seeding for the SEC Tournament and for a potential SEC divisional championship.”
The Tigers have now posted the most wins by an LSU team in 10 years, matching the 1995 team with 20 wins. In addition, the Tigers have matched the 2001 team with 10 SEC wins, which were the most conference wins by an LSU team since the 1992 team recorded 12 league wins.
Earlier this season, the Wildcats defeated the Tigers, 30-22, 22-30, 30-27, 30-24, in Lexington in the final road match of a seven-week odyssey for LSU. As a team, the pair were evenly match in kills and blocks, with Kentucky leading the Tigers, 57-54, in kills and LSU besting the Wildcats, 12-10, in blocks. The Tigers, however, hit .110 as a team, while Kentucky did slightly better at .172. In addition, the Wildcats recorded six service aces, compared to five for LSU. The pair ended the match tied in digs.
“Kentucky is a much improved team from last season,” said Flory. “They are very talented athletically and they execute at a high level. We will need to play at a very high level and maintain a consistent level of intensity throughout the match.”
A trio of Tigers each posted 10 kills to lead LSU in the match. Lauren Leaumont came on in the second game and recorded 10 kills with 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Ivana Kuzmic also posted 10 kills with a team-best seven blocks, including two solo.
Marina Skender recorded 10 kills with 13 digs for her first career double-double. Kassi Mikulik tied with Skender for the team lead with 13 digs, while Daniela Romero also recorded a double-double with a team-best 38 assists and 11 digs.
Amy Kaplan led the match with 17 kills for Kentucky, followed by Danielle Wallace and Ashlee Fisher with 12 each. Queen Nzenwa led the Wildcats with seven blocks. Jenni Casper led the match with 21 digs, followed by Alisa Pierce with 12 and Julie Gagnon with 11.
Kuzmic ranks second in the SEC and fifth in the nation in blocks per game this season. She is currently three blocks away from 700 career blocks and would be the school record holder for career blocks. In addition, Kuzmic leads the Tigers and ranks sixth in the league in hitting percentage at .341.
Jelena Mijatovic leads the Tigers and ranks sixth in the SEC with 4.19 kills per game. In addition, she leads the league and ranks 12th in the NCAA in service aces per game at 0.70. Mikulik leads LSU and ranks ninth in the league with 3.48 digs per game.
Kentucky is led by Wallace with 4.33 kills per game this year, followed by Kaplan with 3.15. Nzenwa leads the Wildcats with 1.38 blocks per game. The 2003 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Casper leads Kentucky with 4.85 digs per game.
The Wildcats lead the all-time series with the Tigers, 23-17, including an 8-7 mark in Baton Rouge. LSU has knocked off Kentucky the last two meetings in Baton Rouge. Last season, the pair split two meetings, with each team winning their home match.