BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team will look to bounce back Sunday versus South Carolina. First serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. from the Maravich Center. Fans can “Geaux Free” to the match courtesy of the Advocate.
LSU (17-9, 10-6 SEC) is currently tied with Arkansas (17-8, 10-6 SEC) for the top spot in the SEC Western Division race. The Tigers are coming off a hard-fought, four-set loss to No. 19 Florida on Senior Night. South Carolina (12-14, 3-13 SEC) was swept by Arkansas Friday in its previous outing.
Juliette Thevenin and Frankie Vain are USC’s top two offensive options. Thevenin has pounded home 3.68 kills per set to rank fourth in the SEC, while Vain has produced a .320 hitting percentage, also fourth-highest on the conference leaderboard. On the back row, Paige Wheeler has sprawled out for 4.43 digs per set to check in at the No. 3 spot in the SEC.
“We talked all week that this was not a one-match weekend,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Senior Night brings a lot of emotions, and we could expend a lot of energy. We had to be careful with that. South Carolina wants that match back that we played at their place. They felt like they really could have won. I am not saying they couldn’t have because they didn’t have their best outside [Thevenin]. They played us close. The bottom line is we have to rebound and be prepared for a very tough match.”
LSU continues to ride the powerful right arms of Desiree Elliott, Madie Jones and Michele Williams. Elliott has notched nine straight matches with double figure kills, while Jones ripped a team-high 13 spikes last time out against Florida. Both players are ranked among the SEC’s Top 10 in kills per set.
The Tiger defense is fueled by Meghan Mannari, who has amassed 4.53 digs per set to rank second in the SEC. She posted her eighth 20-plus scoop performance Friday versus Florida.
Live video and live stats for Sunday’s contest are offered inside the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. The first 500 fans will receive a LSU volleyball bookmark. In-match updates also are available via the program’s social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
For every match, LSU will be collecting books as part of its season-long book drive, “Geaux Books”, to benefit the Everybody Reads Program through Volunteer in Public Schools. Fans are asked to bring new or used elementary level books to help local students.