STARKVILLE, Miss. — LSU volleyball head coach Fran Flory will be looking for career victory No. 300 as the Tigers open their weekend road trip on Friday at Mississippi State in the Newell-Grissom Building at 7 p.m.
The Tigers are 9-6 with a 4-4 mark in Southeastern Conference action. Sitting just behind Ole Miss in second place in the SEC West, wins this weekend against Mississippi State and Alabama on Sunday are very important in continuing toward the goal of capturing a fourth straight division title.
“This is a key weekend for us in that we are matched up against SEC West opponents,” Flory said. “Mississippi State is a difficult place to play. They have a great home court, and as with every SEC school, it is difficult to succeed there.”
The Tigers have had the upper hand on Mississippi State in the all-time series, winning 43 of the 50 previous meetings. They have won five straight over MSU since dropping a 2005 contest in Starkville.
Statistically, LSU also should hold the upper hand in this year’s contest. Mississippi State is just 6-12 on the year and in fifth place in the SEC West with a 1-6 mark. LSU is out-averaging State in nearly every major category, including hitting percentage at .205-.144.
While the Bulldogs rank last in the SEC in kills per set with 10.73, the Tigers are fourth with 13.13. LSU is led on offense by senior Kyna Washington‘s 172 kills and 3.31 kills per set average. She moved up to ninth place all-time in career kills at LSU and needs only 24 more to move up to eighth.
Freshman Faith Steinwedell has been a huge spark for the Bulldogs this year, turning in a season-best 11 kills at Ole Miss last weekend before bettering that mark with 12 at Arkansas. Mississippi State also served up eight aces last weekend and shares with Alabama the seasonal SEC lead in aces with 102.
LSU will close out this weekend’s road trip on Sunday when it travels to face Alabama in The CAVE at 1:30 p.m.