GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the first time since 1992, the nationally ranked LSU volleyball team will face nationally ranked Florida for the top spot in the Southeastern Conference as the league reaches the midway point, with the No. 13 Tigers facing the eighth-ranked Gators on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) in the O’Connell Center.
LSU enters the match-up with a 16-2 overall record and a 7-1 mark in SEC play, while Florida is 15-2 on the season and also 7-1 in the conference. The Tigers are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Auburn on the road on Friday, while the Gators swept Arkansas at home on Friday. LSU’s only conference loss of the season came last weekend at Alabama, while Florida dropped its only SEC match of the year at South Carolina in the conference-opening weekend.
“We are really excited about the opportunity we have tomorrow,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Florida has been the pace setter for many, many years in the conference and we’ve all been kind of chasing to catch up. The fact that we are tied with them right now and that we have an opportunity is something we are looking forward to.”
The last time the pair were both ranked was Sept. 9, 1992, when the 13th-ranked Gators upset the eight-ranked Tigers, 3-1, in Baton Rouge. Florida went on to claim its first outright SEC title, while LSU finished in second. The Gators have gone on to win at least a share of every conference championship since then, dropping only three matches over the last 14 seasons.
“This Tiger team accepts challenges and is excited about stepping on the court against any ranked opponent,” said Flory. “We are going to focus on our side of the net and playing our style. We feel like that will be a good match-up for us. I think it will be a very fun match to watch and I think it will be an exciting match to play in. I think it will be just a great match-up for the SEC.”
As a team, LSU and Florida are very evenly matched statistically. The Tigers lead the Gators and the SEC with 16.7 kills per game, just ahead of Florida at 16.5. The Gators lead LSU and the SEC in hitting percentage, posting a .295 clip, while the Tigers are hitting .234.
Defensively, the pair rank 1-2 in the league in digs, with Florida coming in just ahead of LSU, 17.8 to 16.4. The Gators also lead the SEC in blocks, averaging 3.3 a game, while the Tigers come in third at 3.0 a game. Solid offensive numbers may be hard to find against either team as LSU leads the league with a .137 opponent’s hitting percentage, while Florida is ranked second at .149.
“We know it is going to be a very difficult task,” said Flory. “They are a very solid team. They are very athletic and have overcome injuries that kind of set them back earlier in the season.”
Freshman Lauren DeGirolamo leads the Tigers and ranks eighth in the nation with 1.67 blocks per game. After redshirting last year, the Belleville, Ill., native has recorded seven matches with eight or more blocks this season, including back-to-back double-figure block performances against Tennessee and Kentucky. In addition, she is averaging 3.28 kills per game and leads the team with a .347 hitting percentage.
Offensively, LSU is balanced with four players averaging over three kills a game and six players averaging over two kills per game. Sophomore Marina Skender leads the way with 3.65 kills per game. In addition, she leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the NCAA with 0.75 service aces per game.
Senior Kassi Mikulik leads the Tigers with 4.57 digs per game. The Flatonia, Texas, libero is just 51 digs from moving into fifth place in career digs in LSU history. She also ranks fourth in the conference in digs per game.
Setter Daniela Romero leads the SEC and ranks eighth in the NCAA with 13.23 assists per game. Ranked second on LSU’s career assist list, she currently needs 185 assists to record her 4,000th career assist. In addition, she is 51 digs away from breaking into the top 10 in career digs in school history.
Amber McCray leads a trio of Gators averaging over three kills a game with an average of 3.45. Kisya Killingsworth has posted 3.39, while Marcia Hampton has recorded 3.00. Kristina Johnson leads Florida with a .472 hitting percentage, followed by Kelsey Bowers at .440.
Defensively, Johnson leads the Gators with 1.52 blocks a game, followed by Johnson at 1.16 and Angie McGinnis at 1.02. Elyse Cusack leads Florida and the SEC with 5.05 digs per game. The freshman libero missed five matches earlier in the season with a stress fracture in her foot, including the Gators’ loss to South Carolina.
Florida leads the overall series with LSU, 24-12, and the Gators have won 20 straight over the Tigers. Florida is the only SEC team that the current LSU seniors have never defeated. The last time the Tigers topped the Gators was on Nov. 11, 1991, as Florida has posted a 209-4 mark in conference play since that loss.
LSU will be at home next Friday for a rematch with Kentucky at 7 p.m. before facing off once again with nationally ranked Tennessee next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. That match will be televised on SEC-TV in Baton Rouge on Fox Sports Southwest, cable channel 38, as LSU celebrates Mike the Tiger’s Birthday.