FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The LSU volleyball team wraps up the September portion of its schedule with a Sunday tilt versus SEC Western Division co-leader Sunday at Barnhill Arena.
First serve is on the docket for 1 p.m., and the match will be carried by Cox Sports Television (CST) with Jacob Haertl and Maria Taylor handling the commentary duties. Sunday’s match also will have a free live audio webcast available on LSUsports.net/live.
LSU (6-8, 2-3 SEC) and Arkansas (12-3, 3-1 SEC) battled until the final day of the 2011 season when the Tigers emerged with a three-set victory over the Razorbacks and clinched their seventh consecutive SEC Western Division crown.
Arkansas, who is receiving votes in this week’s edition of the AVCA Top 25 poll, posted a 3-0 Friday sweep of Auburn. The Razorbacks notched a .277 hitting percentage and had six different players come away with at least five kills.
Arkansas is sparked by Raymariely Santos, who has compiled 10.11 assists and 2.41 digs per set. Her top hitting option is Jasmine Norton, the SEC’s active leader in kills. She has racked up 3.67 kills and 3.07 digs per set as a six-rotation option, both marks are ranked inside the SEC’s Top 20. Roslandy Acosta and Janeliss Torres have each connected for over a .300 hitting percentage, while Torres has secured a team-leading 64 blocks at a 1.19 per set average to rank third on the SEC leaderboard.
The Razorbacks carry a 23-15 all-time series edge into tomorrow’s match, but LSU has emerged with wins in 12 of the last 13 meetings dating back to 2005.
“Arkansas is a much more balanced team than they’ve been in the past,” head coach Fran Flory said. “They’re very athletic, and tomorrow’s match is going to be extremely different than the one we just played at Mississippi State. We have to be better playing above the net to compete with Arkansas. Our blocking will have to improve because we’ll have to contain and channel their hitters to be successful.”
LSU’s offense has turned in a .232 hitting percentage during its six victories against a .140 clips in its eight losses. Malorie Pardo has pieced together four consecutive double-doubles, tops in the SEC during conference matches. Once again, Pardo guided the Tigers to a stellar final set with 10 kills and a crisp .321 hitting percentage as LSU claimed a five-set slugfest Friday over Mississippi State.
Madie Jones ripped a season’s best 20 kills versus the Bulldogs and has reached double figure spikes in all six of LSU’s victories on the season. Her 3.20 kills per set check in at 12th place in the SEC rankings.
Helen Boyle has notched three straight double dips, most recently a 13-kill and 20-dig performance in Friday’s match at Mississippi State. She became the third Tiger to eclipse the century mark in kills on the season, while the 20 scoops equaled a career-high.
Desiree Elliott has pounded at least 15 kills in five of her last six outings going back to Sept. 9. She also has been strong on the defensive end and racked up 23 of her 43 blocks during that stretch. The Cypress, Texas, native slapped three kills on four swings without an error during the deciding frame of LSU’s 3-2 comeback victory over Mississippi State.
Sam Delahoussaye continues to raise her level of play as LSU’s libero. She has reeled in 10 or more digs in six straight matches. Last time out, Delahoussaye set a new career mark with 33 scoops during the Mississippi State match and her 4.73 digs per set in conference matches are fifth-best in the SEC. The 33 digs were tied for sixth-most in program history for a single match.
Haley Smith, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, has totaled 52 of her 75 digs over her last three outings. The Delahoussaye-Smith duo also has been a spotless 123-for-123 on their reception attempts during that span.
Fans also can follow Sunday’s match via the program’s social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @LSUvolleyball and @LSUCoachFran on Twitter.
Dating back to the 2005 season, LSU has racked up a 164-63 record and is one of 25 programs nationally to secure bids to six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments.
The Tigers have collected seven consecutive SEC Western championships highlighted by the overall league championship in 2009. It’s the second longest streak in SEC history, only behind Florida’s 14-year run on top of the SEC’s Eastern Division from 1995-2008.