BATON ROUGE — LSU volleyball player Kassi Mikulik was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Monday.
The Flatonia, Texas, native led the Tigers to a 2-0 record for the week with 3-0 wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State to remain perfect in conference play with the best start to league play since 1990. LSU also extended its current winning streak to 12 matches, which is tied for the sixth longest winning streak in school history.
In the weekend opener against the Lady Rebels, Mikulik tied her career high with 26 digs in the three-game sweep. The mark ranks second in Tiger volleyball history in digs in a three-game match and is the most digs recorded by an LSU player since she posted 26 digs against Kentucky last season in a five-game match.
Two days later against Mississippi State, she led the team with 13 digs, to give her a weekend average of 6.50 digs per game. She has now recorded double-figure dig performances in all 15 matches this season for the Tigers. She is just 34 digs away from moving into sixth place in career digs in LSU history and only 145 digs from breaking into the top 10 in single-season digs, with 16 regular season matches remaining.
As the primary serve receiver, the converted outside hitter committed just one reception error in 52 attempts for the week for a .981 percentage. For the season, she has only committed 12 reception errors in 387 attempts for a .969 percentage. In addition, she posted a service ace this week and has 14 aces on the season, which ranks second on the team.
This is the first SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor for Mikulik in her career and the first of the season for the Tigers. The team has now earned four SEC weekly honors.
LSU now takes to the road for two weeks. The Tigers will travel to face Arkansas for a mid-week contest before taking on Alabama on the road next weekend. LSU will then face Auburn and nationally ranked Florida on the road the following weekend. The Tigers will next be at home on Oct. 20 for a rematch with Kentucky before facing off with nationally ranked Tennessee again on Oct. 22.