ATHENS, Ga. – The LSU volleyball team ends a four-match road swing Sunday at Georgia. First serve is slated for 12:30 p.m. CT inside the Ramsey Center.
LSU (16-8, 9-5 SEC) enters Sunday’s tilt a match ahead of Arkansas in the SEC Western Division race after the Razorbacks fell 3-2 Friday at Georgia. The Tigers have won six straight and 11 of their last 12 outings over the Bulldogs (10-15, 6-9 SEC) dating back to the 2005 season.
“This is going to be a battle down the stretch to see who is able to win the SEC West,” head coach Fran Flory said. “The type of performance we got against Auburn is only a cherry on top if we take care of business at Georgia. We’re going to have to bounce back and keep moving forward. Hopefully, we’ll be a ready for another grind it out type of match.”
LSU claimed a 3-1 victory versus Georgia earlier this season at the Maravich Center. The Tigers ripped a .403 team hitting percentage as Malorie Pardo fueled a quarter of hitters to double digit kills. Madie Jones led the way and powered home 16 kills, while Desiree Elliott belted 12 spikes on a scorching .647 hitting percentage.
LSU’s defense limited the Bulldogs to a miniscule .122 hitting ratio. The Tigers also kept UGA’s top two offensive options Brittany Northcutt and Kathleen Luft in check. The duo, who entered the contest among the SEC’s Top 10 in kills per set, finished with nine spikes each. Northcutt posted a team-high 16 kills during UGA’s five-set victory against Arkansas.
Kathleen Gates has passed out 10.73 assists per set, fourth-best in the SEC. In addition to Northcutt and Luft, the senior setter has fueled six different players to over 125 kills on the season. Defensively, Elizabeth Reid has recorded 1.01 blocks and Allison Summers has corralled 3.84 digs per set to rank fifth and sixth among the SEC leaders, respectively.
Last time out, LSU claimed a hard-fought 3-1 victory at Auburn. All four sets were decided by the minimum of two points as the tightly-contested affair featured 51 ties and 26 lead changes. LSU posted a season-high 15 blocks.
Helen Boyle cranked a career-best 18 kills, her highest output since the Miami match on opening weekend. She also secured 18 digs to garner her fifth double-double of the season and has posted 10 or more digs during 10 of her 14 SEC matches.
Pardo continues to pace the SEC leaderboard and has handed out 11.80 assists per set. She has fueled at least three hitters to 10 or more kills in five of LSU’s last seven matches.
Elliott, Jones and Williams joined Boyle in double figure kills. Elliott smacked 18 kills and equaled a career-best eight blocks. She is fifth in the SEC with 3.64 kills per set and has ripped off 108 spikes at a team-best 4.00 per set average during her previous seven outings.
Jones has connected for 15 or more kills in six of her last nine appearances, while Williams enters Sunday’s contest two spikes away from passing former All-American Lauren DeGirolamo on the program’s all-time list.
LSU’s back row group is sparked by Meghan Mannari. Her 4.49 digs per set are second-highest in the SEC rankings. The Tigers were outdug for only the sixth time this season during the Auburn match.
“After the Mississippi State match, our team remembered that they were suppose to win,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We lost sight of who we were and what we’ve accomplished over the last six seasons. Our players were led into a direction of we are, we can, we’re capable and we will as the players thought mentally prepared this week.”
Live audio and live stats for the Georgia match are offered inside the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net, while in-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at LSU Volleyball on Facebook or http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.