BATON ROUGE – The No. 16 LSU volleyball team concludes a three-match home swing Sunday against Ole Miss. First serve for this key SEC Western Division battle is set for 1:30 p.m. inside the Maravich Center and fans can receive free admission by bringing their Alabama football ticket stub.
LSU (21-2, 12-2 SEC) enters the match with a 1.5 match cushion over the Rebels in the SEC West race. Last time out, the Tigers dismantled Alabama en route to their 13th sweep of the season. LSU also finished the rigors of 10 October matches.
“We did a great job of persevering,” head coach Fran Flory said. “October is the heart of the season and always the make-or-break time. To come out of that stretch with the record that we have, I’m really proud of the effort by our players.”
LSU’s offense continues to be sparked by a multitude of options. Brittney Johnson has distributed a league-high 10.76 assists per set and fueled the Tigers to nine plus .300 efforts. The Baton Rouge native also has provided a team-best nine double-doubles on the season.
Angela Bensend keeps on setting the SEC’s standard and her 4.18 kills per frame also is No. 24 in the nation. She has tallied 10 or more kills in 20 of 23 matches and LSU is 33-2 during Bensend’s career when she reaches that feat.
Joining Bensend on the outside is Madie Jones, who has contributed seven of her 10 double figure kill efforts during SEC action. She cranked 11 kills on a .450 hitting percentage against Alabama and her .341 clip in league play is ninth-highest.
Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams highlight LSU’s attack from the middle. Elliott has hammered over a .300 hitting clip in 11 of her 14 SEC appearances, while Williams has popped 3.21 kills on a .336 ratio. Both of Williams’ feats are ranked ninth in the SEC.
“We’ve added some different things and are more versatile in our offense,” Flory said. “The concern is we’re not as efficient. This week we’ve back off of offense a little bit and part of the reason is we’re a little fatigued. I think we’ll regain that efficiency later in the week after some rest and recovery.”
LSU’s defense continues to be efficient with a 96 percent serve-pass rating coupled with a 66 percent sideout mark during SEC play. Lauren Waclawczyk has strung together 10 consecutive double digit dig performances and has reeled in 4.08 digs per set to rank sixth in the SEC.
Sam Delahoussaye and Meghan Mannari have chipped in a combined 19 double figure dig efforts and both are averaging over 2.50 scoops per set.
“We have to be a great team and a great team unit,” Flory said. “Teams that play together well and continue to build through the later part of October and the beginning part of November are the ones that are going to play deep into postseason. That’s been our emphasis this week in practice.”
Ole Miss (17-7, 11-4 SEC) dropped a 3-1 decision Friday at Arkansas, but the Rebels are one of only two teams to defeat LSU in 2010. Whitney Craven has powered home 3.63 kills per set to rank fourth, while Regina Thomas has connected for a conference-best .451 hitting percentage during SEC matches. On the back row, Morgan Springer has sprawled out 4.62 digs per set to check in with the third-highest ratio in the SEC.
“Ole Miss is a great team, and we have a huge amount of respect for them,” Flory said. “They’re going to come in ready to go and have a chance to tie us back up for the SEC West lead. There are a lot of matches still left to be played but when you go head-to-head with someone you’re fighting with certainly that’s an important match in the season.”
Live video and live stats for Sunday’s match are available on LSUsports.net inside the Geaux Zone. Fans also can follow live in-match updates on the team’s official blog at http://lsuvolleyball.posterous.com.