TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After clinching their first Southeastern Conference Western Division title in school history, the third-seeded LSU volleyball team opens play in the SEC Tournament on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against sixth-seeded Alabama in the CAVE.
Having won eight of their final 10 matches, the Tigers enter the tournament at 21-6 overall with an 11-5 mark in league play. The home-standing Crimson Tide are 21-8 overall and 9-7 in conference play, losing five of their final six SEC matches.
“Alabama is a very talented, very young team, but they feel very comfortable on their home court,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We are going to have to go in there with a great attitude and play well on our side of the net in order to be successful.”
If LSU defeats Alabama, the Tigers will advance to take on the winner of the Tennessee-Mississippi State match on Saturday at 6 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the SEC Tournament championship match on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on FSN Southwest (Baton Rouge cable channel 38).
This is the third meeting between the Tigers and the Crimson this season and 41st overall meeting between the pair. Alabama defeated LSU, 3-1, in Tuscaloosa in the first meeting this season. The Tigers rebounded with a 3-0 win over the Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge three weeks ago.
“The Alabama-LSU rivalry is strong in almost every sport,” said Flory. “Certainly we have had some very competitive, very intense matches over the last several years.”
In the overall series, LSU holds the slight advantage, 21-19. The Tigers are 8-12, however, in Tuscaloosa, and have lost four-straight at Alabama. In addition, the pair are tied 2-2 in four meetings in the SEC Tournament.
In the first meeting, after winning the first game, 30-25, the Tigers dropped three straight, 22-30, 17-30, 26-30, to fall to the Crimson Tide. Alabama posted 61 kills to just 49 for LSU, while the Crimson Tide hit at a .241 clip, compared to a .139 mark for LSU. However, the Tiger did out block Alabama, 12-10, and the pair were tied with 69 digs each.
Jelena Mijatovic led the Tigers and tied for the match lead with 14 kills, followed by Marina Skender with nine. Melody Clark led the match with six blocks, while Ivana Kuzmic recorded five. Kassi Mikulik led the team with 15 digs, followed by 10 each by Skender and Kyna Washington.
Alabama was led by Bridget Fuentez with 14 kills and Sarah Snider with 13. Lindsey Buteyn led the Crimson Tide with five blocks, while Jessica Yearout led the match with 24 digs.
In the second meeting, LSU dominated Alabama statistically, with the Tigers out killing the Crimson Tide 52-33, with a .275 hitting percentage to a .102 clip for Alabama. In addition, LSU posted 11 blocks to only 5.5 for the Crimson Tide along with 50 digs to 40 for Alabama.
The Tigers posted a season-best 13 service aces in the match, including five by Skender, four by Mijatovic and three by Washington. The Crimson Tide, which recorded 11 aces in the first meeting with LSU, were held to just three in the match.
Mijatovic and Washington led the Tigers with 11 kills each, while Skender and Clark each recorded 10 kills. Kuzmic recorded a match-best nine blocks, including four solo blocks, while Skender led the team with 12 digs, followed by Mikulik with 11. Daniela Romero led the match with 39 assists for LSU.
Alabama was led by Fuentez with 12 kills, while Brigitte Slack led the Crimson Tide with four blocks. Yearout posted a match-best 13 digs and Slack led Alabama with 28 assists.
The winner of the SEC Tournament will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If the Tigers do not win the tournament, they will wait to see if they have earned an at-large bid during the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday, Nov. 27, which will be broadcast on ESPNews.