KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After falling in four sets to No. 21 Kentucky on Friday, the LSU volleyball team will try to protect its Southeastern Conference Western Division lead against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CST.
LSU (12-8, 7-6 SEC) enters the match against the Lady Vols with a half-match lead over Ole Miss while Tennessee (16-8, 9-4) is third in the East after sweeping Georgia on Friday night.
“It is always a fight between the two of us,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said. “It is always a tough, competitive, emotional match, especially at Tennessee. Whether one team was the underdog or one was far superior, we always seem to get in five-set matches with them. I would expect nothing less than that tomorrow.”
Tennessee is led by junior Farren Powe who leads the league in hitting percentage in conference play at .410 and Nikki Fowler who ranks second in the league in kills per set with an average of 3.72. Defensively the Lady Vols are led by junior Chloe Goldman who is second in the conference in digs per set with 4.93.
The Tigers are led offensively by Brittnee Cooper who recorded 13 kills against Kentucky and Kyna Washington who leads the team in kills on the season with 222. Washington finished with eight kills against Kentucky, and that propelled her to sixth in school history in all-time kills as she now has 1,382. Washington ranks ninth in the league in service aces with an average of 0.33 per set, and with two against Kentucky, Washington is now tied for 10th place in school history with 143 aces in her career.
Defensively LSU is paced by Elena Martinez who ranks third in the league in digs per set with an average of 4.88. Against Kentucky, Martinez recorded 21 digs, the fifth straight match of 20 or more digs and the seventh time this season.
“Tennessee is playing better, and I am very concerned about the level that they are playing in terms of how we match up with that,” Flory said. “This is going to be a tough road match, and we are going to have to be at our best to win this match.”
On September 26 in Baton Rouge, LSU defeated Tennessee, 3-1, to increase the Tigers’ all-time series lead over the Lady Vols to 30-16.