BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team will look to add to its Southeastern Conference Western Division lead on Friday when the Tigers take on Auburn at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU will honor its two seniors, Kyna Washington and Elena Martinez, at the conclusion of the match.
LSU (14-9, 9-7 SEC) enters the match against Auburn with a one-and-a-half match lead over Ole Miss in the West after beating Alabama and Mississippi State last weekend. Auburn (6-21, 1-15) enters the match having lost three straight matches, including losses at South Carolina and league-leading Florida a week ago.
“Auburn is a team that has continued to improve through the season,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said. “Their record may not show how good they are, but they are a solid team. They are difficult to prepare for because they use many different players. Our focus this week has been on controlling our side of the net, making good shot selection and being efficient offensively. We have emphasized being very focused and prepared for this match.”
As a team LSU leads Auburn in several categories as LSU leads in kills per set (12.94-11.74), assists per set (11.95-10.74), service aces per set (1.41-1.02), digs per set (13.72-13.16), blocks per set (2.41-1.55) and hitting percentage (.214-.181).
Individually, the Tigers from Auburn are led by senior Jessica Glover who has pounded out 343 kills on the season for an average of 3.36 kills per set which is good for sixth in the SEC. Sophomore Sara Shanks is tops on the team in service aces with 25 with an average of 0.25 aces per set, and she also leads Auburn with an average of 8.36 assists per set which ranks sixth in the conference.
Defensively, sophomore Liz Crouch has recorded 316 digs with an average of 3.59 digs per set, a total that ranks eighth in the SEC. Glover is also one of Auburn’s best defenders as she has tallied 59 blocks, more than any other Tiger, for an average of 0.58 blocks per set.
Washington leads LSU offensively as she has the most kills on the team at 249 for an average of 2.93 kills per set. Washington is also fifth in the conference in service aces as the Houston native has accumulated 32 for an average of 0.38 per set. With four more aces Washington will tie Detra Brown for ninth all time in LSU’s career aces list as Washington currently sits with 151.
Freshman Michele Williams was honored this week as SEC Freshman of the Week for her outstanding performances against Alabama and Mississippi State last weekend as she led the team in kills in both matches and hit at a .525 clip. Williams has moved up to third on the team in kills with 134 on the season, behind Washington’s 249 and Brittnee Cooper‘s 245. Cooper is ranked fourth in the SEC in hitting percentage at .347.
Defensively, Cooper is tops on the team and in the conference in blocker per set as the junior averages 1.21, which also ranks 36th in the nation. Martinez leads the conference in digs per set with 4.72, a number that ranks 42nd nationally. Martinez has had 20 digs or more in nine matches this season, including a streak of seven straight that was snapped against Mississippi State on Nov. 9.
LSU leads the series with Auburn, 31-11, after LSU swept Auburn, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22, on Oct. 12 in Auburn. LSU will be looking for the season sweep of Auburn for the eighth straight season as LSU has beaten Auburn 14 consecutive times. The last time Auburn defeated LSU was Nov. 5, 2000 when the Tigers from Auburn won in four games in Baton Rouge.
After the match against Auburn, LSU will not play again until Nov. 21 in Fayetteville when the Tigers face Arkansas.