BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team starts the second half of its four-match SEC road swing Friday at Alabama. The Tigers are coming off a pair of sweeps over Auburn and Georgia.
LSU (9-4, 3-1 SEC) enters the match a half-game behind the Crimson Tide (6-9, 4-1 SEC) in the SEC Western Division standings.
“Every LSU-Alabama match is a battle, and I expect nothing less on Friday night” head coach Fran Flory said. “Coach Green does a great job of having her players ready once SEC play comes around. It’s a match that’s going to come down to which team is able to stay in system, maintain their offensive rhythm or break the opponent’s rhythm.”
The Tigers are fueled by Brittnee Cooper and Marina Skender, who have combined for 49.3 percent of LSU’s kills. Cooper’s .372 hitting percentage ranks third, while her 3.45 kills per set are fifth in the SEC.
Skender has powered home double-digit kills in eight consecutive matches and her 3.93 kills per set in league matches are second. She enters the Alabama match six digs away from passing Lisa Smith (1984-87) for eighth place.
“Our offense took another step forward last weekend,” Flory said. “We found more opportunities to score instead of relying on other teams to make errors. I don’t think we used everybody to the best of their ability at the beginning of the season. We have some great athletes on our team, and what we did last weekend a positive step that we can build on.”
Sam Dabbs ranks second and has passed out 10.42 assists per set improving on her 9.22 per set clip from 2008. She also has added 42 kills on a .391 hitting percentage and has set five different Tigers to at least 1.50 kills per set.
Lauren DeGirolamo and Michele Williams have provided a spark in the middle. DeGirolamo has registered 27 of her 39 blocks over her last seven matches and her 1.21 blocks per set in SEC matches rank fourth, while Williams racked up 26 kills on a .478 hitting percentage in her two matches against Alabama last season.
Angela Bensend compiled season-bests with 10 kills on a .400 hitting clip at Georgia. The Tigers have won 12 of 13 matches over the last three seasons when Bensend has reached double-figure kills.
On the back row, Lauren Waclawczyk has corralled double-digit digs in nine of her 11 starts at defensive specialist, including four straight. Her 4.43 digs per set in conference matches are tied for sixth in the SEC. Sam Delahoussaye also has tallied a perfect reception percentage in six of her last eight matches.
First serve against the Crimson Tide is slated for 7 p.m. on FSN. Live stats also are available on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-match updates of the defending four-time SEC Western champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.