BATON ROUGE — Leading the Southeastern Conference Western Division by two games with three to play, the LSU volleyball team travels to face Arkansas at 7 p.m. Friday in Barnhill Arena.
LSU (15-9, 10-7 SEC) are first in the SEC West over Ole Miss and Alabama who each have 8-9 conference records. Arkansas (7-20, 4-13 SEC) enters the match against the Tigers in fourth place in the division.
“Arkansas is a team that has improved through the season,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said. “They have been adjusting to a new coach and system, and now they are getting comfortable. They are well-coached and will be prepared on their home court. We know that every match at Arkansas has been a battle, and we have not won many matches here. It is a match that will be difficult, and we will have to play well to be able to succeed.”
LSU leads Arkansas in every major team statistic as the Tigers average 12.92 kills per set compared to the Razorbacks’ 11.82. So far this season LSU has averaged a higher attack percentage (.214-.197), more assists per set (11.92-10.80), more service aces per set (1.38-1.05), more digs per set (13.81-12.68) and more blocks per set (2.38-1.78).
Individually the Razorbacks are led on offense by senior Christina Lawrence who ranks seventh in the conference with a .322 hitting percentage as she has produced 262 kills and a team-leading 3.32 kills per set average which also ranks seventh in the SEC. Freshman Kelli Stipanovich has the most kills on the team with 272.
Freshman Phoebe Bautista paces Arkansas on defense as she has recorded 323 digs on the season, an average of 3.33 digs per set. Senior middle blocker Yun Tang leads Arkansas in blocks with 84 for an average of 1.04 blocks per set.
The Tigers are led offensively by senior Kyna Washington who recorded the 34th double-double of her career against Auburn last time out. Washington leads LSU in kills (263), kills per set (2.92), service aces (32) and services aces per set (0.36). Junior Brittnee Cooper is second with 256 kills, and she ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage at .335.
Senior libero Elena Martinez has led the Tigers defensively by recording 423 digs for a 4.70 average, which ranks second in the SEC and 47th nationally. Cooper has tallied 109 total blocks and continues to lead the SEC in blocks per set at 1.21, a mark that ranks 40th in the nation.
Arkansas leads the series history with the Tigers, 22-9, but LSU has won six straight and will be going for the third-straight season sweep of the Razorbacks. After the match LSU will travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss in another crucial battle for the West title. The match against the Rebels will be Sunday at 2 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports South.