BATON ROUGE – The No. 16 LSU volleyball team looks to close out its regular season home schedule on a strong note as the Tigers square off against No. 1 Florida Sunday inside the Maravich Center. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. and LSU will honor its senior class of Angela Bensend, Brittney Johnson and Tania Schatow following the match. Fans can receive free admission by bringing their Ole Miss football ticket stub.
“These three seniors have had great collective and individual careers,” head coach Fran Flory said. “They’re going to leave here with a SEC championship, multiple western division championships and several individual awards. They’ve sustained this program and insured that we have succeeded for the last four seasons. I’m extremely proud of them”
Bensend has racked up 10 or more kills during 21 of 27 matches. LSU has totaled a 34-2 record when Bensend’s reaches double digit spikes over her career. Her 3.82 kills per set are second in the SEC and the Plano, Texas, product has reached 10 digs in four straight matches.
Johnson eclipsed 1,000 assists for the season against South Carolina as the SEC’s assist leader is ranked No. 44 nationally with 10.72 assists per frame. She has recorded a team-high 10 double-doubles. The Tigers had had three players reach 10 or more kills during 10 of their last 19 matches.
Schatow has put together 41 kills and 29 blocks over her last eight matches. She popped a season-best nine kills at Kentucky, while her seven stuffs at No. 21 Tennessee matched a season-high last weekend. During those eight matches, Schatow has ripped over a .400 hitting ratio on four occasions.
Last time out, LSU rattled off its 14th sweep of the season over South Carolina. Madie Jones powered home 10 kills on a .500 hitting percentage en route to her 10th double digit kill effort in SEC action. Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams fueled the Tigers to a 10-1 blocking edge. The duo also contributed eight and seven kills, respectively.
From the back line, LSU tallied a stout 70 percent sideout efficiency for the match. Lauren Waclawczyk hauled in 13 digs to push her streak to 14 consecutive matches with double figure scoops, while Meghan Mannari came away with 11 digs.
Florida (25-1, 18-0 SEC) secured the overall SEC championship and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Friday with a 3-1 victory over Arkansas. The Gators have a trio of options, Cassandra Anderson, Lauren Bledsoe and Kelly Murphy, among the SEC’s Top 10 in hitting percentage.
Murphy has ripped 3.12 kills per set to rank ninth, while her 0.38 aces per set pace the SEC. Callie Rivers and Kristy Jaeckel also have been solid offensively with over 2.40 kills per set. At the net, Anderson has recorded 1.17 blocks per frame to rank second in the SEC.
“We just need to just play and have a great time,” Flory said. “We need to show composure and compete for every touch. This doesn’t mean anything in the big race or the little race. It’s an opportunity for us to play the No. 1 team in the country on our home court. It’s a team that we feel like is legitimately the No. 1 team. So, we want to see how we match up against them heading into the NCAA Tournament.”
Cox Sports Television’s Lyn Rollins and Garrett Walvoord will be on the call. The match also is live at www.ESPN3.com as part of the SEC on ESPN package. Live stats 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.