Overall Record: 25-4
SEC Record: 16-4
SEC Standings: 2nd overall [1st West]
AVCA Ranking: No. 15
RPI Rating: No. 16
Last Week: 1-0
Nov. 24 – at Arkansas [W, 3-0 – 25-19, 25-19, 25-20]
Nominee for Offensive Player of the Week
Brittney Johnson, S, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
Johnson, the SEC’s leader in assists per set, set a balanced attack as five LSU players connected for seven or more kills in LSU’s 3-0 triumph over Arkansas to conclude the regular season. She handed out 41 assists, a full three assists over her season average and a benchmark for a three-set match in SEC play. The Tigers connected for over a .333 hitting percentage in all three frames and finished with a .362 team clip. The 50 team kills were tied for fourth-most in a three-set league match as Johnson fueled Tania Schatow to a season-best 11 spikes.
Totals for the Week
SP Kills Err. Att. Pct. Assists Aces Rec * Err Rec * Att Digs BS BA TB Team ** Hit Pct.
3 2 3 10 -1.00 41 1 0 0 6 0 1 1 .362
Nominee for Defensive Player of the Week
Lauren Waclawczyk, L, Jr., San Antonio, Texas
Waclawczyk continued to lead LSU’s back row as the junior libero extended her run to 16 straight matches with 10 or more digs. She reeled in 10 digs as the Tigers claimed a 3-0 win at Arkansas. LSU has won 39 of their last 40 matches versus SEC Western Division foes since the 2007 season. The San Antonio, Texas, native also secured her seventh straight perfect passer rating to extend her streak to 100 during that span.
Totals for the Week
SP Kills Err. Att. Pct. Assists Aces Rec * Err Rec * Att Digs BS BA TB Team ** Hit Pct.
3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 8 10 0 0 0 .362
Nominee for Freshman of the Week
Desiree Elliott, MB, Fr., Cypress, Texas
Elliott capped a strong first season of SEC play with an 11-kill performance on a .400 hitting percentage as LSU rolled to a 3-0 sweep of Arkansas. She knocked five of her 11 spikes during the Tigers 20-kill second set. The Cypress, Texas, product has reached double digit kills in nine of her last 13 matches and attacked at over a .300 hitting ratio in 14 of her 20 SEC matches.
Totals for the Week
SP Kills Err. Att. Pct. Assists Aces Rec * Err Rec * Att Digs BS BA TB Team ** Hit Pct.
3 11 3 20 .400 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 .362
Notes on the Tigers
LSU enters its sixth straight NCAA Tournament as the No. 13 national seed and faces off against No. 22 Tulsa in the opening round Friday at 5 p.m. inside Oklahoma’s McCasland FieldHouse. The six straight NCAA appearances are a program record for LSU, who will be making its 12th overall tournament trip highlighted by a pair of Final Four runs during 1990 and 1991. The Tigers tallied their 15th sweep of the season at Arkansas to conclude the regular season with a 25-4 record. Brittney Johnson handed out 41 assists and set five players to seven or more kills. Desiree Elliott, Tania Schatow and Michele Williams ripped 11 kills apiece to fuel the LSU attack. For Scatow, the 11 spikes were a season-high. On the back row, Lauren Waclawczyk added 10 digs for her 16th straight double digit dig effort. Angela Bensend along with Elliott and Williams garnered All-SEC accolades. Bensend and Elliott were on the All-SEC First Team to give the Tigers multiple selections for the fourth time in five seasons dating back to 2006. Elliott also secured SEC All-Freshmen Team honors and became the fifth player in program history to earn the SEC’s Freshman of the Year award. Williams was selected to the All-SEC Second Team. Bensend hammered home a team-best 378 kills and her 3.74 per frame average ranked second in the SEC. She racked up 10 or more kills in 22 of 29 matches highlighted by a trio of 20-spike efforts. Winner of four SEC Freshman of the Week awards during the season, Elliott became the first LSU freshmen since Leah Bennent (1981) to notch All-SEC First-Team honors. She racked up a team-best 104 blocks at a 1. 07 per set rate, while her .337 hitting percentage in SEC action checked in at sixth and eighth place in the SEC rankings, respectively. Williams connected for 326 kills and her 3.13 per frame rate was eighth in the SEC. She slapped double digit kills on 18 occasions and attacked at over a .300 hitting ratio in 17 of 29 matches with her .309 clip being just outside the SEC’s Top 10. Live video, a live audio webcast and live stats for the six-time defending SEC Western Division champions’ NCAA Tournament matches will be available on LSUsports.com in the Geaux Zone. Fans also can follow in-match updates on the team’s official blog at http://lsuvolleyball.posterous.com.