BATON ROUGE — After a five-game win over Alabama on Friday to put them in sole possession of the lead in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, the 20th-ranked LSU volleyball team will host Mississippi State on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. for Mizuno Team Day.
Local teams get into the match for FREE with “Advocate” tickets available through the LSU Promotions Office at (225) 578-8960. In addition, the first 100 fans will receive FREE wristbands. Senior citizens will also get into the match for free as they can spend the afternoon watching volleyball and also playing bingo.
The month-long “Dig for the Cure” campaign will continue to raise money for breast cancer awareness through the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, formerly known as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Donations will be accepted at SEC matches throughout the month of October, which has been designated Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with the proceeds of the campaign going directly to the Komen Foundation.
“We are continuing our ?Dig for the Cure’ campaign on Sunday,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We will have opportunities to donate throughout the month and we hope that our fans get involved in this great cause to benefit breast cancer research, something that, as women, is very important to our team and our staff.”
LSU (14-2, 6-1 SEC) used its five-game win over the Crimson Tide to take over sole possession of first place in the SEC West and in second place overall in the league, one game behind No. 6 Florida. The Tigers have now won three straight matches and nine of their last 10. The Bulldogs are coming off a 3-1 loss at Ole Miss on Friday that dropped them to 6-10 on the season and 1-6 in conference play. Mississippi State’s only conference win was a three-game sweep of Arkansas, as MSU has lost three straight.
For the season, LSU leads the Mississippi State in almost every statistical category. The Tigers are averaging 15.5 kills per game, third best in the SEC, while the Bulldogs are posting only 14.6, seventh in the conference. In addition, LSU has a .222 team hitting percentage, while Mississippi State has hit only .202 this year.
The Tigers lead the SEC with 2.2 service aces per game, but the Bulldogs have traditionally been one of the best serving teams in the league. Mississippi State is averaging 1.9 aces per game and has five players with 10 or more aces, including three players with 20 or more aces.
“Mississippi State has been one of the toughest serving teams in the conference for several years and they have always given us problems with their serve,” said LSU head coach Fran Flory. “We will have to be efficient offensively and we know that first ball, ball control and serve receive will therefore be the key to this match.”
Defensively, LSU holds a commanding lead over Mississippi State in blocks, recording 2.9 per game compared to 1.7 per game for the Bulldogs, which puts them last in the SEC. In addition, the Tigers are averaging 16.4 digs per game, compared to only 14.3 per game for Mississippi State, the second fewest in the conference. LSU is also second in the league in allowing opponents to hit only .137, while the Bulldogs are last in the league in allowing opponents to hit .242 against them.
Junior Kyna Washington leads LSU offensively and ranks third in the conference with 4.18 kills per game. The two-time SEC Player of the Week also leads the league with 0.65 service aces per game and has recorded an ace in 14 of the Tigers’ 16 matches this season, including nine matches with three or more aces. Four additional Tigers are also averaging over two kills per game, including Lauren DeGirolamo with 3.28 kills per game, Brittnee Cooper at 2.81, Marina Skender with 2.59 and Angela Bensend at 2.38.
DeGirolamo leads the Tigers and ranks sixth in the SEC with a .353 hitting percentage. In addition, the sophomore leads LSU and ranks fifth in the league with 1.41 blocks per game. Cooper is the reigning SEC Player of the Week and close behind DeGirolamo in the conference blocking standings by ranking sixth in the league with 1.35 blocks per game.
Junior Elena Martinez continues to lead the SEC with an amazing 5.70 digs per game. In her first season as the starting libero, Martinez broke the school five-game dig record with 34 against Iowa and the four-game dig record with 33 against Arkansas. She has posted nine 20-dig matches in 16 attempts this year, including six straight at one point in the season.
Cristina Jucan leads the Bulldogs and ranks eighth with 3.53 kills per game, while no Bulldog ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in hitting percentage or blocks per game, with no Bulldog averaging over a block per game. Erin Seago leads the Bulldogs with a .310 hitting percentage, while Lauren Kowal has a team-best 0.78 blocks per game. Megan Lukasek leads MSU and ranks seventh in the league with 4.25 digs per game. One of the league’s best serving teams, the Bulldogs have five players with over 10 aces this year, including three with more than 20 each.
LSU has dominated the overall series with Mississippi State, 41-7. The Tigers have won two straight and three of the last four. Between 1981 and 1996, LSU won 24 consecutive meetings. The last time the Tigers lost to the Bulldogs at home was in 2004.
LSU returns to action on the road next weekend as the Tigers travel to face Tennessee and Kentucky. LSU will take on the Lady Vols on Friday at 6 p.m. CDT before closing out the weekend on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CDT against the Wildcats. The Tigers will return home for a mid-week match against Ole Miss on Oct. 17 which will be televised on Cox Sports Television, before taking on Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.