OXFORD, Miss. — The 11th-ranked LSU volleyball team looks to close out Southeastern Conference play with their fifth straight win as the Tigers take on Ole Miss on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the Gillom Sports Center.
It will be “Senior Day” for the Lady Rebels, marking their final home match. Live statistics will be available on the official LSU athletics website, LSUsports.net.
LSU (24-4, 16-3 SEC) has claimed the outright SEC Western Division championship and will finish in second in the overall league race. Ole Miss (18-12, 9-10 SEC) is having one of its best seasons in school history, coming off its first season sweep of Arkansas after downing the Lady’Backs 3-0 on Friday.
“This is going to be Ole Miss’ senior night and a very emotional time for their team,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “They are on a roll and have been very successful recently. They are playing with a great deal of confidence and we need to be prepared for that and execute well.”
In their first meeting this season, the Tigers swept the Lady Rebels, 30-25, 30-23, 30-20, in Baton Rouge on Sept. 29 as the 11th win of a 13-match winning streak. LSU now leads the all-time series with Ole Miss, 41-11, including a 17-4 record in Oxford. The Tigers have won the last four meetings with the Lady Rebels. The last time Ole Miss topped the Tigers was in Oxford in 2004.
“Ole Miss is a much approved team from the team we played in Baton Rouge,” said Flory. “Their middles have really developed and I think they have found a more stable lineup than what they had when they played us at our place.”
Senior Kassi Mikulik recorded a match-best 26 digs to lead the Tigers in their first meeting this year. It marked the second most digs in a three-game match in school history, surpassed only by the 30 digs recorded by Luciana Reis against Arkansas State in 1993. In addition, senior Daniela Romero posted 14 digs and Kyna Washington recorded 12 digs as LSU had 70 for the match, the 10th most team digs in a three-game in school history.
Senior Melody Clark led the offensive attack for the Tigers with 13 kills and a .333 hitting percentage, followed by freshman Lauren DeGirolamo and Washington with nine kills each. DeGirolamo also led the match with seven blocks of LSU’s 11 team blocks. In addition to her 14 digs, Romero posted 37 assists for what was her eighth double-double on the season.
Jaclyn Toohey led Ole Miss with 13 kills, followed by Katie Kramer with 10. The downfall for the Rebels was the fact that Ole Miss posted 32 kills, but also committed 32 errors for a .000 team hitting percentage for the match. Tara Langley led the Lady Rebels with 15 digs, while Emily Jones led Ole Miss with three blocks.
For the season, LSU leads Ole Miss on the offensive side of the net; with an SEC-best 17.0 kills per game, compared to 15.0 for the Lady Rebels. In addition, the Tigers post a .228 team hitting percentage, compared to a .201 clip for Ole Miss.
Defensively, LSU holds a rather commanding lead over the Lady Rebels in blocks, posting 3.0 a game, compared to 2.0 for Ole Miss. The Tigers also lead the Lady Rebels in digs per game, averaging 17.9 to 16.0 for LSU. The Tigers ranks second in the SEC in opponents hitting percentage, holding opponents to just a.148 clip, while Ole Miss ranks 10th at .216.
Mikulik leads the Tigers with 4.85 digs per game. The Flatonia, Texas, libero became just the seventh person in LSU history to record 1,000 career digs and now needs 14 digs to move into third place in Tiger volleyball career history. In addition, she needs just 37 digs to break the LSU single-season digs record.
Romero leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the NCAA with 13.60 assists per game. She currently needs 12 assists to move into ninth place in single-season assists in LSU history. In addition, she is 16 digs away from becoming the eighth player in school history to post 1,000 career digs.
DeGirolamo leads the Tigers and ranks ninth in the nation with 1.64 blocks per game. The Belleville, Ill., native broke into the top 10 in single-season blocks assists with her fourth block assist on Friday. In addition, she is averaging 3.01 kills per game with a team-best .319 hitting percentage.
Offensively, LSU is balanced with three players averaging over three kills a game. Skender leads the way with 3.90 kills per game, followed by Washington at 3.52 kills per game. In addition, Skender leads in the SEC and ranks fifth in the NCAA with 0.73 service aces per game.
Toohey leads Ole Miss with 4.06 kills per game, followed by Kramer at 3.77 kills per game. Langley leads the Lady Rebels with 3.85 digs per game, while four other Ole Miss players average over two digs per game. No Lady Rebel posts over a block a game as Ole Miss is led by Moffett at 0.99 blocking average.
The Tigers will conclude the 2006 regular season in Orlando on Thanksgiving Weekend in the SEC/Big East Challenge. LSU will face Marquette on Friday at 2 p.m. (EST), before facing No. 24 St. John’s on Saturday at 2 p.m. (EST). The Tigers will then await an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The selection show will air live on ESPNews at 1:30 p.m.