BATON ROUGE — The No. 24 LSU volleyball team has strung together seven consecutive victories heading into its Sunday matinee against Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. inside the Maravich Center.
It marks LSU’s longest winning streak since a 13-match streak during the 2006 season. The Tigers also have notched 24 consecutive victories over SEC Western Division opponents and opened a four-match lead over second place Alabama in the division race.
“Ole Miss is playing better because they have their people back,” head coach Fran Flory said. “They’ve had some injuries, really battled back and forth to get a solid lineup. I think they’re finally healthy. Watching their match on Wednesday [against Arkansas], they’re playing very well. They’re pretty physical and a very different style of team than Arkansas so we’re going to really have to prepare.”
LSU (14-4, 8-1 SEC) has compiled sweeps in 10 of its 14 victories, including a 3-0 victory over Arkansas where Marina Skender ripped 15 kills to push her streak to 13 consecutive matches with double-figure spikes and tacked on five blocks. The Croatia native has belted 98 kills on a .307 hitting percentage during LSU’s seven-match winning streak and her 4.23 kills per set in SEC matches ranks second.
After a slow start, Brittnee Cooper got into a rhythm and popped eight kills on 12 swings over the final two frames. The duo combined for 25 kills on a .346 hitting percentage against the Razorbacks.
Cooper paces the Tigers with 223 kills and headlines the SEC with a .404 hitting clip. The Houston, Texas product has powered home 75 kills on a crisp .525 hitting clip during LSU’s seven-match winning streak and her 3.43 kills per set are fifth in the SEC.
Sam Dabbs distributed 33 assists and added eight digs as LSU connected for a .316 team hitting percentage against Arkansas. The Tigers have notched over a.300 team clip in five of their last seven matches.
Dabbs, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Week, continues to ranks in the SEC and has passed out 10.98 assists per set. She has upped her average to 11.63 helpers per frame in league matches to pace the SEC.
Michele Williams recorded seven blocks and added four kills against the Razorbacks and her 1.12 blocks per set ranks fifth in the SEC. She has knocked 69 kills in conference play.
Lauren Waclawczyk and Sam Delahoussaye anchor the back row as LSU has won all 25 sets when posting a 70 percent or better sideout efficiency this season. The Tigers have reached that feat in 13 of their last 21 set victories. Waclawczyk’s 3.77 digs per set in conference matches are ninth in the SEC.
Ole Miss (8-11, 2-7 SEC) has picked up back-to-back wins over Alabama and Arkansas led by Whitney Craven, who has smacked 36 kills during the two matches. Katie Norris averages 3.80 kills per set, third best in the SEC.
Regina Thomas sparks the Ole Miss defense with 1.04 blocks per set and ranks seventh in the SEC, while Morgan Springer’s 4.10 digs per set are fifth-best in the SEC.
Live video and stats for the Ole Miss match are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. Fans also can follow in-match updates of the four-time defending SEC Western Division champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.
“It’s really important because Ole Miss took Florida to five sets and we can’t perform at the level we played at [last night] against Arkansas,” Skender said. “We will get together for practice, talk about the mistakes we made and get ready to play on Sunday.”