BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team opens up a four-match homestand Friday versus Georgia in the program’s annual Pink match to promote breast cancer awareness. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Maravich Center. The match also will carried live on KLSU 91.1 FM in the Baton Rouge area.
LSU (11-6, 4-3 SEC) enters the weekend in sole possession of first place in the SEC Western Division race, a half-match ahead of Mississippi State. The Tigers lost three of their last four outings, including a pair of decisions to then No. 23 Tennessee and No. 13 Florida.
“We feel pretty fortunate to be on top of the SEC West,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We’ve taken care of business in matches that we have needed to. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to knock off a ranked opponent and take that next step to get into that top tier of the league. Our kids are playing well, and we’ve created a new line up with some new possibilities. I think the best volleyball for this group is ahead of us. We’re still improving and still getting better opportunities offensively.”
LSU has won five consecutive meetings over Georgia (8-10, 4-4 SEC) and hold a 28-19 edge during the all-time series. Under the direction of first-year coach Lizzy Stemke, the Bulldogs are paced by Kathleen Gates’ 11.23 assists per set, second-highest in the SEC.
Gates has fueled four hitters to over 2.50 kills per set sparked by Brittany Northcutt and Kathleen Luft, who has connected for 3.28 and 3.10 kills per set, respectively, to rank ninth and 10th in the SEC. Defensively, Allison Summers has reeled in 3.89 digs per set and is fifth in the SEC rankings.
“Georgia is a much improved team, and we’re excited to have them come in,” Flory said. “That is a Louisiana native coming back to LSU to coach in Lizzy Stemke. She is a great coach and is going to do a wonderful job with that program. She has those kids playing really hard. We’re going to have to be very prepared for the match to be successful.”
LSU’s offense is headlined Desiree Elliott, Madie Jones and Michele Williams. The trio has combined to rack up 33 double-digit kill performances on the season and will look to get back on track after not reaching double figure spikes at No. 13 Florida.
Elliott and Jones are still ranked among the SEC’s Top 10 in kills per set. On the defensive end, Williams has tallied 1.09 blocks per set to check in at third place in the conference.
Malorie Pardo has handed out 11.39 assists per set, third-best in the SEC right behind UGA’s Gates. She has tabulated a team-high six double-doubles on the season. During the last two matches, Marissa Maas has jumped into the starting lineup. She posted a career-high four blocks last Friday at South Carolina.
“The more our players play in our new lineup, the better they’re going to be,” Flory said. “Michele has never hit on the outside in her life. Changing a senior All-SEC middle blocker into a role that and expanding her responsibilities is a huge task. Certainly, we have a lot of trust and confidence in Michele. We’re very excited about Marissa’s progress. She’s worked really hard to get a starting spot, and we’ll see how she progresses. We have a couple of other players that are doing a nice job in the practice gym as well. We may have to adjust the lineup again in the near future.”
LSU’s back row of Sam Delahoussaye, Meghan Mannari and Lauren Waclawczyk has corralled a combined 25 double-figure dig efforts. At libero, Mannari has sprawled out for a SEC-best 4.77 digs per set in conference matches. She also has secured a perfect passer rating in 10 of her last 12 appearances, a stretch of 222-of-225 attempts.
Waclawczyk continues to climb up LSU’s digs rankings and enters the UGA match 19 scoops away from Detra Brown (1983-86) for the No. 8 slot.
Live video and live stats for Friday’s match are offered inside 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.
The second of four Friday Night Meal Deals featuring broiled fish, rice pilaf and ratatouille will be available for $7 starting at 6 p.m. inside the Courtside Club located at the Northwest Corridor entrance of the arena.
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.