BATON ROUGE – The No. 16 LSU volleyball team heads into the middle part of a three-match home swing against Alabama for a Sunday afternoon match-up inside the Maravich Center. First serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. and the match will be televised on CST.
Following a 3-0 sweep over Mississippi State on Friday, LSU (20-2, 11-2 SEC) surged into sole possession of first place in the SEC Western Division race.
The Tigers rode the right-arm of Desiree Elliott, who connected for a career-best .688 hitting percentage with 12 kills on 16 swings with only one error. Elliott’s hitting clip rose to .397 in conference play and vaulted her into third place in the SEC rankings.
Angela Bensend continued her strong play and ripped 15 kills for her 19th double digit kills performance on the season. Her 4.20 kills per set place the Plano, Texas, native into the top spot of the SEC in that category.
Lauren Waclawczyk led LSU’s defense to a 70 percent sideout effort. She has secured 10 or more digs in nine straight matches and her 4.11 digs per set check in at sixth place in the SEC.
LSU picked up a three-set triumph at Alabama in their SEC road opener earlier this season. The Tigers connected for a team .393 hitting percentage as Brittney Johnson handed out 40 assists and added 10 digs. She set Bensend along with Michele Williams and Madie Jones to 41 of LSU’s 54 kills in addition to an impressive .407 hitting percentage.
Alabama (9-13, 1-11 SEC) has gone on to drop 11 of its 12 SEC decisions, but the Crimson Tide possesses a pair of talented hitters in Kayla Fitterer and Alyssa Meuth. Both players are among the SEC’s Top 10 in kills per set as the duo ranks sixth and seventh, respectively. Defensively, Kelsey Anderson has posted 4.71 digs per set to rank third in the SEC.
Live stats for Sunday’s match are available on LSUsports.net. With the match being televised by CST, there will be no live video in the Geaux Zone. Fans also can follow live in-match updates on the team’s official blog at http://lsuvolleyball.posterous.com.