STARKVILLE, Miss. — The 2006 Southeastern Conference Western Division champion LSU volleyball team will close out the SEC regular season on the road this weekend beginning with a match against Mississippi State on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Newell-Grissom Building.
The 11th-ranked Tigers (23-4, 15-3 SEC) clinched the SEC West title last weekend with sweeps over Arkansas and Alabama at home. LSU remains two games behind No. 7 Florida in the overall standings and must win both with a pair of losses by the Gators to tie for the SEC Championship.
“This is an absolutely vital match for us,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “Mississippi State, on their home court, is a very dangerous team. We’ve got to be very prepared and we have got to go in there expecting a very difficult match. I think we’re prepared and we hope that we will continue to get better on the court and continue to improve as a team.”
The Bulldogs (16-12, 7-11 SEC) enter the weekend on a two-match losing streak after being swept by Florida on Sunday and falling, 3-2, to Auburn on Friday. Mississippi State has also lost four of their last six matches, but will finish the season with their second consecutive winning record, marking just the second time in 33 years Mississippi State has posted back-to-back winning records.
“They are the toughest serving team in the league and they are much more efficient at home,” said Flory. “Facing a team like this, who has had a successful season and beaten some very good teams over the course of the season, on their last home weekend, they have a whole lot of incentive to play well against us and to be successful.”
The last time LSU matched up with the Bulldogs, the Tigers won, 30-21, 30-24, 30-21, in Baton Rouge on October 1, but Mississippi State topped LSU, 3-1, in their last meeting in Starkville. The Tigers lead the overall series with the Bulldogs, 40-7.
In the first meeting, Melody Clark tied for the match high with 11 kills, while also hitting at a match-best .391 clip with two service aces. In addition, the senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., tied for the match lead with six blocks.
Lauren DeGirolamo and Marina Skender also posted double-figures in kills for the Tigers with 10 each. DeGirolamo tied Clark with six blocks for the match. Kassi Mikulik led LSU with 13 digs, followed by Daniela Romero with 10, who also posted 37 assists for her team-best ninth double-double.
Orshi Kriegel led Mississippi State with 11 kills, the only Bulldog in double figures with kills. Jamie Joyner led MSU with three blocks, while Megan Lukasek led the match with 17 digs for the Bulldogs.
As a team, the Tigers posted 45 kills, to only 36 for Mississippi State. In addition, LSU recorded a .217 team hitting percentage, while holding the Bulldogs to a .071 clip. The Tigers held a commanding lead in blocking, with 13.0 blocks to only 4.0 for Mississippi State. LSU posted three more digs than the Bulldogs, recording 49 to 46 for MSU.
For the season, the Tigers lead Mississippi State on the offensive side of the net; with an SEC-best 17.0 kills per game, compared to 15.4 for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State, however, leads the Tigers in hitting percentage with a .249 mark compared to a .226 clip for LSU.
Defensively, the Tigers hold a commanding lead over the Bulldogs in blocks, posting 3.0 a game, compared to 1.8 for MSU. In addition, LSU leads the Bulldogs in digs per game, averaging 17.8 to 14.3 for Mississippi State. The Tigers rank second in the SEC in opponents hitting percentage, holding opponents to just a.146 clip, while the Bulldogs rank fifth at .186.
DeGirolamo leads the Tigers and ranks ninth in the nation with 1.64 blocks per game. The Belleville, Ill., native has recorded nine matches with eight or more blocks this season, including back-to-back double-figure blocking matches against Tennessee and Kentucky. In addition, she is averaging 3.01 kills per game with a team-best .314 hitting percentage.
Offensively, LSU is balanced with three players averaging over three kills a game. Skender leads the way with 3.91 kills per game, seventh best in the SEC. In addition, she leads in the league with 0.71 service aces per game, which ranks fifth nationally.
Mikulik leads the Tigers with 4.82 digs per game, second best in the SEC. The Flatonia, Texas, libero became just the seventh person in LSU history to record 1,000 career digs and now needs 31 digs to move into third place in Tiger volleyball career history. In addition, she is just 54 digs away from breaking the LSU single-season digs record.
Romero leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the NCAA with 13.58 assists per game. Ranked second in career assists, she needs 54 assists to move into ninth in single-season assists in school history. In addition, she is 23 digs away from becoming just the eighth player in LSU history to record 1,000 career digs.
Kriegel leads Mississippi State with 3.54 kills per game, followed by Christina Jucan at 3.24 per game. There are no Bulldogs that are averaging a block a game or better, as Erin Seago leads Mississippi State with 0.71 blocks per game with just 69 total blocks on the season, the only player with over 45 blocks for the Bulldogs, while LSU boasts six players over 45 blocks. Lukasek leads the Bulldogs with 3.70 digs per game, followed by Jucan and Kriegel, who both post over two digs per game.
Following the match, the Tigers will travel to Oxford, Miss., to close out the conference season at Ole Miss on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. LSU will conclude the 2006 regular season in Orlando on Thanksgiving Weekend in the SEC/Big East Challenge. The Tigers will face St. John’s and Marquette in the two-day tournament.