BATON ROUGE — After a hard fought four-game loss to No. 7 Florida on Friday, the 11th-ranked LSU volleyball team will look to return to their winning ways against Auburn on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Maravich Center.
LSU and Mizuno are encouraging youth volleyball teams to come to the match as part of “Mizuno Team Day”. Local teams get into the match for FREE. Teams should wear their uniforms to get into the match for FREE. In addition, 100 LSU backpacks will be given away in the FanZone at the match.
Live statistics for the match will be available on the official LSU athletics website, LSUsports.net.
The purple and gold are now 20-4 on the season and 12-3 in Southeastern Conference play. LSU currently sits atop the SEC Western Division standings, two games behind Florida for the overall title and two games ahead of Alabama in the West. AU is 12-14 overall and 4-11 in conference play, having lost five straight matches, putting them in last in the SEC Western Division.
“Auburn is a much improved team this season that is very athletic,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “I don’t think we are going to change much after the loss to Florida because I think our game plan was solid, we just didn’t execute offensively. Against Auburn, we are going to have to come out well and execute.”
In their first meeting this season, LSU knocked off Auburn on the road, 30-24, 30-23, 30-24. As a team, LSU out killed Auburn, 47-37, while posting a .267 hitting percentage to only a .113 mark for Auburn. AU out dug the purple and gold, 44-38, while the pair tied with five blocks each. LSU also finished with six service aces, compared to two for Auburn, but the purple and gold also committed 12 service errors for the match.
Sophomore Marina Skender led a trio of LSU players in double-figures with kills, followed by sophomore Kyna Washington and freshman Lauren DeGirolamo. DeGirolamo led the match in blocks with four, including one solo.
Senior Kassi Mikulik led the purple and gold with 11 digs, while senior Daniela Romero recorded 10 digs along with 32 assists. Skender led the match with a trio of service aces, keeping her atop the league standings for the season in aces per game, while Romero posted a pair of aces.
Rachel Shanks and Jessica Glover each led Auburn with 11 kills, while Whitney Jacob led the match with 12 digs. Jelena Sekulic also posted in double figures with digs with 10. Julie Bosler led AU with three blocks.
As a team, LSU leads Auburn in almost every statistical category. The purple and gold lead the SEC with a 17.01 kills per game with a .229 hitting percentage, while AU posts 14.19 kills per game and a .198 attacking mark. Additionally, LSU is averaging 1.82 service aces per game, compared to 1.59 for Auburn.
Defensively, the purple and gold leads AU with 3.07 blocks per game compared to 2.265. LSU also posts 17.65 digs per game, while Auburn averages 15.62. The purple and gold also rank second in the SEC in holding opponents to a .147 attacking percentage, while AU’s opponents are hitting .194 this season.
DeGirolamo leads the LSU and ranks ninth in the nation with 1.65 blocks per game. After redshirting last year, the Belleville, Ill., native has recorded eight 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 2.98 kills per game and leads the team with a .318 hitting percentage.
Offensively, LSU is balanced with two players averaging over three kills a game and five players averaging over two kills per game. Skender leads the way with 4.00 kills per game. In addition, she leads the SEC and ranks third in the NCAA with 0.75 service aces per game. Washington also posts over three kills a game at 3.60 a game.
Mikulik leads the Tigers and ranks third in the SEC with 4.75 digs per game. The Flatonia, Texas, libero is just 36 digs from moving into fourth place in career digs in LSU history. Having recorded her 400th dig this season against Florida, she now needs just 10 digs to move into eight in single season digs in school history.
Romero leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the NCAA with 13.58 assists per game. Ranked second on LSU’s career assist list, she currently needs 141 assists to break into the top 10 in single season assists in LSU history. In addition, she is 59 digs away from becoming only the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 career assists.
Shanks leads Auburn offensively with 3.84 kills per game, followed by Glover with 3.48 a game. Bosler is the only AU player averaging over a block a game as she is posting 1.16 blocks per game for the season. Shanks and Glover also lead Auburn in digs per game, averaging 3.49 and 2.98 respectively.
LSU leads the overall series with Auburn, 27-11, and has won 10 straight over AU and 11 of the last 12. The last time Auburn defeated the purple and gold was in 2000. The 2006 LSU senior class is undefeated against AU, having posting a 6-0 record against Auburn over the last four seasons.
LSU will close out the regular season home schedule this week. The Fighting Tigers will host Arkansas, which is currently in third in the SEC West, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Alabama, which sits behind the Tigers in second in the West, on Friday at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.
Pom-poms will be available as local cheer teams get in free with “Advocate” tickets for the Arkansas match as part of “Pep Rally at the PMAC.” Against the Crimson Tide there will be an autographed senior jersey giveaway to help send out the four magnificent seniors in style