BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team returns home for the first time since opening weekend as the Tigers start the SEC home schedule with a Sunday afternoon contest with Mississippi State. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Maravich Center.
Fans are encouraged to take advantage of the Geaux Free program and receive free admission for every home match this season compliments of The Advocate. The first 500 fans for Sunday’s match will receive a LSU “Point Tigers” t-shirt.
The Tigers (9-3, 2-0 SEC) bounced back with consecutive road victories over Ole Miss and Alabama on SEC opening weekend after concluding their non-conference slate with two straight losses to Xavier and Western Kentucky.
LSU has won 49 of their last 52 matches versus SEC Western Division opponents since 2006, including 10 straight in the series over Mississippi State. The Bulldogs (6-5, 1-1 SEC) have won five of their last six decisions with their lone setback coming to No. 6 Florida.
MSU is sparked by Hannah Wilkerson, who not only leads the SEC but the nation with a crisp .524 hitting percentage for the season. She is joined in the middle by Lainey Wyman, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week. Wyman paces all SEC freshmen with 117 kills and 48 blocks.
Caitlin Rance has belted the second-most kills in the league at 4.55 per set, while Parris Perret has dished out 10.92 assists per set to rank fifth in the SEC.
“Last weekend was a great start for our Tigers, but we’re very thankful to be back at home,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Mississippi State is a much improved team and will have a lot of confidence after picking up a five-set win against South Carolina last Sunday.”
Madie Jones and Nicole Willis are coming off of career performances for the Tigers. Jones powered home a career-high 21 kills, while Nicole Willis connected for 12 kills on a career-best .417 hitting percentage versus Alabama.
“Madie has really started to come into her own after she has played in the shadows for the last couple of years,” Flory said. “For her to carry that type of load and be that efficient is something we have to have her do to be successful. The emotion and the leadership she brought were the two areas I was most impressed with last weekend.”
Jones has boosted her average up to 3.20 kills per set, good enough for seventh place in the SEC. Willis has popped 10 or more kills in back-to-back matches for the first time during her career.
Nicole is physical, quick enough, has the right shots and is such a tremendous athlete,” Flory said. “We really couldn’t create the right opportunity for her in the offense prior to this weekend. At the end of last week, the light bulb truly came on for her after we worked on a couple of things. We weren’t surprised that she played well last weekend, but we certainly hope we can keep her going to improve on things through the next couple of weeks.”
Malorie Pardo has eclipsed the 50-assist plateau in five of her last seven outings and recently had a run of four straight double-doubles come to a close at Alabama. The League City, Texas, native headlines the SEC and ranks 11th nationally with 11.65 assists per set.
Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams have teamed with Jones to record 63.8 percent of LSU’s kills on the season. Elliott has notched double figure during eight straight contests and 3.53 kills per set are fifth in the SEC. She also is just outside the SEC’s Top 10 with a .311 hitting clip and 0.95 blocks per set ratio.
On the defensive end, Williams has racked up a team-best and SEC-leading 1.21 blocks per set. She also has pounded 10 or more kills in six consecutive matches to account for 78 of her 112 kills for the season.
LSU’s back row continues to be led by Meghan Mannari, a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week selection. She has corralled 4.30 digs per set, the third-highest mark in the SEC. The Frisco, Texas, native also has picked up seven straight perfect passer ratings, a run of 116 attempts dating back to the Grambling match on Sept. 2.
Sam Delahoussaye and Lauren Waclawczyk have chipped in four double digit dig efforts apiece. Waclawczyk recently passed Lisa Smith (1984-87) after a nine-scoop performance at Alabama. For her career, Waclawczyk has secured 1,100 digs.
“I think all three continue to do a great job in the back row,” Flory said. “Lauren has stepped into an even more important leadership role on and off the court. Even though she’s only on the court for three rotations after being our starting libero for the last two seasons, she’s the heart of this team. Many seniors and many players would say I’m disappointed, and I’m not going to give everything to the team because I’m not in the role that I really want to be in. Lauren is a truly a great Tiger. You can’t say enough about the effort that she’s put into the program.”
Live video and live stats for Sunday’s match are offered through the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
Fans will have an opportunity to take part in the 2011 SEC Together We CAN Food Drive as they are asked to bring canned goods to the Maravich Center. The campaign will continue with each of LSU’s home events through Sunday, Oct. 2. The canned goods collected by the LSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will benefit the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
For every home match, LSU volleyball also will be collecting books as part of its season-long book drive to benefit Everybody Reads Program through Volunteer in Public Schools. Fans are asked to bring new or used elementary level books to help local students. For more information, visit www.lsusports.net/geauxbooks.