BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball looks to collect back-to-back victories and continues a four-match homestand Sunday versus Auburn. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. and the match will be carried live by Cox Sports Television with Lyn Rollins and Garrett Walvoord on the call.
LSU (12-6, 5-3 SEC) has won 50 of its last 53 decisions against its fellow SEC Western Division rivals since the 2006 season. The Tigers also have won 19 consecutive outings over Auburn going back to 2001.
Auburn (9-10, 3-6 SEC) has lost the first three of a four-match road swing. The Tigers are sparked in the middle by Camila Jersonsky, who is second in the SEC with a blistering .357 hitting percentage. On the outside, Kelly Fidero has had a strong start to her senior campaign and cranked 3.05 kills per set to check in at the No. 10 spot in the SEC rankings.
“Auburn is a much improved team, they’re going to be ready for us,” head coach Fran Flory said. “They have been a little bit of a roller coaster with their season. As we get into October, all of those teams that have been bouncing back and forth are going to get stabilized, and become consistent. Auburn is one of those teams, Rick [Nold] is a great coach, and he has some wonderful players. They’re going to come in here with a point to prove.”
Last time out, LSU’s offense rolled to a .402 hitting percentage Friday during a 3-1 victory over Georgia. It was the best hitting clip for the Tigers since opening weekend. Malorie Pardo dished out a match-high 49 assists and ignited a quartet of hitters to double figure kills.
Madie Jones powered home 16 kills, while Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams blasted 12 and 10 kills, respectively. The trio is ranked among the SEC’s Top 10 in points per set, LSU is only SEC school with three players to accomplish that feat.
Nicole Willis also added 10 kills against the Bulldogs. It marked the first time that the southpaw notched double digit spikes since SEC opening weekend at Alabama on Sept. 18.
The Tiger back row compiled a 72 percent sideout efficiency during Friday’s Georgia win. Meghan Mannari also scooped up 17 digs, her 15th double figure dig effort in 17 appearances. The Frisco, Texas, native has racked up 4.42 digs per set, third-highest in the SEC.
Lauren Waclawczyk heads into Sunday’s contest 11 digs away from eclipsing Detra Brown [1983-86] for eighth place on LSU’s all-time list.
Live stats for Sunday’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 first 500 fans will receive LSU volleyball koozies.
For every home match, the Tigers 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.