KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The LSU volleyball team completes its regular season road schedule and looks to get back on the winning track Sunday against SEC leader and No. 14 Tennessee. First serve is on-tap for 1 p.m. CT, and the match will be televised by CST.
The Tigers (18-10, 11-7 SEC) head into Sunday’s tilt a match ahead of Arkansas in the SEC Western Division standings. Tennessee (25-3, 17-1 SEC), winners of 10 straight, is coming a Friday sweep of the Razorbacks and can clinch a share of the SEC regular season championship with a victory over LSU.
Kelsey Robinson cranked a match-high 17 kills against Arkansas and averages a SEC-leading 4.47 spikes per set. The Lady Vols also receive a SEC-best 11.85 assists per set from Mary Pollmiller. The freshman setter has fueled Leslie Cikra and DeeDee Harrison to over a .300 hitting percentage for the season.
“Tennessee is a great team and play extremely physical,” head coach Fran Flory said. “They’re also going to play above the net. We have to reduce the number of hitting errors that we had against Kentucky to be successful. We’ve worked hard on being efficient offensively in practice and to have 27 hitting errors in a three-set match like we had Friday is unacceptable.”
Helen Boyle has ripped 10 or more kills in four of her last five matches, including an 11-spike effort versus Kentucky. She also provided 14 digs to compile her seventh double-double of the season.
Michele Williams moved into sole possession of 16th place on LSU’s all-time kills during the Kentucky match. She has reached double digit kills in nine of her last 11 outings.
Desiree Elliott and Nicole Willis will look to bounce back from negative hitting performances. Elliott’s 3.45 kills per set are seventh in the SEC, tops among middle blockers. Madie Jones has powered home a team-best 3.54 kills per set, sixth-highest in the SEC.
Malorie Pardo paces the Tigers with 11 double-doubles. She has posted a double dip in her last five Sunday outings.
On the back row, Meghan Mannari has reeled in an astounding 4.97 digs per set in conference matches to hold the top spot in the SEC rankings.
Live audio and live stats for the Tennessee 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.