FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? The No. 19 LSU volleyball team continues its four-match road swing Sunday at Arkansas. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. and the match will be televised on CST.
“You know we have to take of our matches if we want to have a chance at the overall SEC title,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Arkansas is a scrappy team, and we’ll have to be ready for another tough match.”
LSU (19-5, 13-2 SEC) has won 12 of its last 13 matches and secured its fifth consecutive SEC Western Division crown with a 3-0 triumph over Ole Miss on Friday. The Tigers connected for a season-best .416 hitting percentage against the Rebels.
Brittnee Cooper and Marina Skender have powered home 289 kills on the season and their 3.44 spikes per set are tied for sixth in the SEC. Skender ripped a season-best .556 clip against Ole Miss, while Cooper enters Sunday’s match one kill away from reaching 1,000 for her career.
Michele Williams and Lauren DeGirolamo join Cooper in the SEC Top 5 in blocks per set. The duo ranks fourth and five in league matches with 1.18 and 1.17 per set average, respectively.
Sam Dabbs has fueled five Tigers to at least 1.50 kills per set. She ranks second in the SEC and passed out 11.14 assists per set. She has set LSU to over a .300 hitting percentage in five of the last eight matches.
Lauren Waclawczyk and Sam Delahoussaye have combined for 26 double-digit dig efforts to anchor the back row. Waclawczyk posts 3.45 digs and 0.25 aces per set to rank 10th in the SEC.
Arkansas (11-14, 5-9 SEC) is paced by four-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner Jasmine Norton. She is third in the SEC with 3.92 kills per set and reached double-figure kills in 10 consecutive matches. Defensively, Amanda Anderson has averaged 0.87 blocks per set and Janeliss Torres-Lopez follows closely with 0.85 swats pet frame. Behind the block, Phoebe Bautista has corralled 3.86 digs per set.
Live stats are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-match updates of the five-time SEC Western Division champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.