BATON ROUGE — Riding a five-match win streak including three sweeps during that span, the LSU volleyball team is set to host Georgia in the final regular season match at 1:30 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday.
LSU (17-9, 12-7 SEC) has clinched the Southeastern Conference Western Division title for the fourth straight season and has its eyes turned on the NCAA Tournament. Georgia (17-13, 10-9) enters the match in fifth place in the SEC East and is 3-2 in its last five matches.
“Georgia is a great team and they have one of the most outstanding players in the league in Maria Taylor,” LSU head coach Fran Flory said. “They are a tough serving team and pressure you to make the play. They make you beat them and are very efficient. Their offense is solid, so it will be a battle of who controls their side with first contact and serving throughout the match.”
The Bulldogs are led offensively by Taylor, a senior outside hitter who has accumulated 399 kills on the season and a 3.53 kills per set average which ranks fourth in the SEC. Freshman setter Kathleen Gates has also paced the Bulldog offense as she ranks third in the conference in assists per set at 9.72 and is also third in service aces per set with 0.40. Defensively Georgia is led by sophomore middle blocker Valentina Gonzalez who is ranked seventh in the SEC in blocks per set at 1.01.
The Tigers have been outstanding offensively lately as LSU has hit over .400 as a team in back-to-back matches against Arkansas and Ole Miss, led by junior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper who finished with a career-high .714 attack percentage against Arkansas. For the season Cooper ranks fourth in the SEC in hitting percentage at .350. Senior Kyna Washington continues to lead the team in kills and kills per set with 286 kills and 2.98 kills per set.
Defensively LSU is paced by senior libero Elena Martinez who continues to climb up the all-time LSU dig chart. Martinez currently has 1,359 digs in her career and is only 21 shy of second place in LSU history. Martinez’ 4.80 digs per set average ranks first in the SEC and is 41st in the country. Cooper has also been outstanding defensively as she continues to lead the SEC in blocks per set with a 1.24 average, a mark that also ranks 33rd nationally.
The series history is back and forth as LSU holds a 23-19 all-time advantage. However, Georgia beat the Tigers 3-0 on Oct. 8 in Athens. The loss snapped a streak of five straight victories against the Bulldogs.
The match has been designated Take a Kid Day as all kids 12 and under will receive free admission to the match with the purchase of an adult ticket, and the first 300 kids at the match will receive a free hot dog.