AUSTIN, Texas — Participating in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years, the LSU volleyball team begins tournament play on Friday at 7 p.m. against seventh-ranked Texas in Gregory Gym.
Fans can watch the match through streaming video and live stats, while listening to the Texas radio broadcast on LSU Sports Interactive at www.LSUsports.net. Links to all three can be found at NCAA Central on the volleyball homepage.
The Tigers (21-7) earned an at-large bid to the tournament after winning their first SEC Western Division Championship in school history. The Longhorns (23-4) also earned an at-large bid after finishing second in the Big 12 Conference behind No. 1 Nebraska.
“Texas is one of the most physical and fastest teams that we have faced all year,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory, who is facing her alma mater for the fifth time in her career. “We will have to be effective in our serving strategy and with our ball control to be successful.
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“Having to play at Texas is definitely a difficult situation, but when you enter the NCAA Tournament, the stakes are higher,” said Flory. “We know you have to beat the best to be the best. Anything can happen now and we are excited about the opportunity.”
No. 7 national seed Hawai’i, the automatic qualifier from the Western Athletic Conference, will take on Texas State, the automatic qualifier from the Southland Conference, in an earlier match on Friday at 5 p.m. If LSU advances past Texas, it will take on the winner of the Hawai’i-Texas State match on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
The Regional Finals for LSU’s bracket will be held in State College, Penn., home of Penn State, the No. 2 national seed. The NCAA Final Four will be held in San Antonio in the Alamodome. The Tigers participated in the Dome Rally earlier this season in the Alamodome, going 2-1 in the tournament with the lone loss to then-nationally ranked Texas A&M in five games.
LSU and Texas are comparable teams statistically. The Tigers are averaging 16.1 kills per game with a .235 attacking percentage. The Longhorns are slightly better with 16.2 kills per game while hitting at a .274 clip, which ranks in the top 20 in the nation this season. LSU boasts 1.9 service aces per game, compared to 1.7 for Texas. Defensively, the Tigers are averaging 14.9 digs per game with 3.0 blocks per game, which ranks 27th nationally. The Longhorns average only 13.6 digs per game, while ranking 17th in the NCAA wit 3.1 blocks per game.
Ivana Kuzmic ranks second in the Southeastern Conference and sixth in the nation in blocks per game this season. The senior from Split, Croatia is the first player to wear a Tiger uniform to record 700 career blocks, after recording 362 in her first two seasons at Arkansas-Little Rock. In addition, the first-team All-SEC selection leads the Tigers and ranks seventh in the league in hitting percentage at .343.
Jelena Mijatovic leads the Tigers and ranks sixth in the SEC with 4.07 kills per game. In addition, the second-team All-SEC selection leads the league and ranks 14th in the NCAA in service aces per game at 0.61.
SEC Freshman of the Year Marina Skender ranks second on the team with a .299 hitting percentage and 0.33 service aces per game, while posting the third most kills at 2.80 per game and third most blocks at 0.91 per game on the team this year. She was also the first LSU freshman since 1989 to earn All-SEC honors in her first season.
Junior Kassi Mikulik leads LSU and ranks ninth in the league with 3.59 digs per game. Junior Daniela Romero leads the Tigers and ranks eighth in the SEC with 9.02 assists per game.
Texas as a trio of players averaging over three kills a game, led by Dariam Acevedo with 3.75, Leticia Armstrong with 3.27 and Brandy Magee with 3.20. Armstrong and Magee also lead the Longhorns with 1.40 and 1.11 blocks per game respectively. Alyson Jennings boasts a team-best 3.61 digs per game, while Michelle Moriarty leads Texas with 13.42 assists per game.
The Tigers are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since making four consecutive appearances from 1989-1992. Overall, LSU is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has posted a 10-6 record. The Tigers are one of only two teams in the SEC to advance to the NCAA Final Four, making appearances in both 1990 and 1991.
LSU is 6-6 this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament, but won three of their last four against tournament teams. The Tigers have not played anyone in their regional bracket this season. LSU is 4-17 all-time against Texas, including a 1-2 record in NCAA Tournament play. The Tigers are 3-1 against Texas State and 0-3 against Hawai’i all-time, but have never faced either team in NCAA Tournament play.
In addition to LSU, five Southeastern Conference teams earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. Along with LSU, SEC Champion Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee were chosen to participate in the postseason tournament. Alabama is one of four teams making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history.
The six teams selected from the SEC are a record for the conference, shattering the previous high of four teams. This will also mark the first time in SEC history that four or more teams were selected to the NCAA Tournament field in consecutive years.