BATON ROUGE – For the second consecutive week, the LSU volleyball program will be showcased on ESPNU when the Tigers meet preseason SEC favorite Tennessee Wednesday at the Maravich Center.
First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. and fans will have the opportunity to “Geaux Free” to Wednesday’s match compliments of the Advocate. Gates will open to the public one hour prior to first serve.
Leading into the match, LSU will play host to its “Serve it Up BBQ” in-front of the arena. There will be free food and entertainment while supplies last. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a LSU volleyball tumbler.
Wednesday’s match also marks the second of two “Student Point” matches. As part of “Greek Night”, the fraternity or sorority that brings the most members of their organization to the match will win the opportunity to form a tunnel at Tiger Stadium before Saturday’s South Carolina game.
LSU (7-10, 3-5 SEC) has tallied a 33-19 series lead over the Lady Volunteers. However, Tennessee (11-5, 4-3 SEC) swept both meetings between the two teams last season.
The Lady Vols picked up a pair of five-set home victories over Missouri and Georgia last weekend and have won five of their six five-set decisions. Reigning SEC Player of the Year, Kelsey Robinson, fuels Tennessee and the SEC with 4.49 kills per set. However, it was Kayla Jeter’s powerful right-arm which produced 27 kills during the five-set triumph over Georgia.
Ellen Mullens has led the UT back row and secured 3.94 digs per set, eighth on the SEC leaderboard. She took home SEC Defensive Player of the Week after a career-best 34 scoops versus Missouri.
“Certainly, our matches with Tennessee are always great ones,” head coach Fran Flory said. “It is always a heated competition, and our kids enjoy it. I think their kids enjoy it as well. They are a very physical and talented team. We respect every player on their roster; those kids are great athletes. They were all highly recruited, and each one of them has the chance to change the match. The hard part is we have to prepare for a lot of different lineup possibilities, but we’ll be ready for the challenge.”
LSU has split its last six matches and is coming off a 3-0 sweep of South Carolina where the Tigers connected for a season’s best .359 hitting percentage. Helen Boyle, Desiree Elliott and Madie Jones accounted for 44 of LSU’s 53 kills.
During SEC action, the Boyle-Elliott-Jones trio has powered home 77.8 percent of the team’s spikes. All three are ranked among the SEC’s Top 11 in kills per set and have ripped double figure kills in their last seven outings.
Malorie Pardo has moved her way up to seventh place on the SEC’s assist list and has distributed 10.39 helpers per set. She has compiled double-doubles in five of her last seven outings and enters Wednesday’s match 85 assists away from surpassing Brittney Johnson (2007-10) for the No. 8 spot on LSU’s all-time list.
LSU’s back row defense has received a lift from the return of Meghan Mannari. She equaled a season-high with 18 digs versus South Carolina. The Frisco, Texas, native is 43 scoops away from becoming the 12th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs.
Sam Delahoussaye has notched 10 or more digs in nine straight outings. She has posted her four highest career totals over her last six appearances and her 4.38 digs per set in SEC matches are seventh on the conference leaderboard.
“Meghan started the season as our heart, and the greatest thing that happened is that Sam Delahoussaye has become a leader in our group through the course of Meghan dealing with her injury,” Flory said. “We knew when we got them both back and healthy that we were going to be better. I think we are even more difficult to defend.”
Live video for Wednesday’s match will be available at www.ESPN3.com or via the “Watch ESPN” app. Live stats will be carried inside the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net/live.
Wednesday is the third of four SEC Meal Deal matches. For only $7, LSU concessions will provide a special dinner starting at 6 p.m. inside the Courtside Club which is located at the Northwest Corridor entrance of the arena.
Fans can reserve their meals in advance by emailing kobrien@lsu.edu or by contacting Katie at (225) 578-5050 with the quantity of meals and names. The meals also will be available to walk-up customers on match day, but on a cash-only basis while supplies last.
At every home match, LSU will be collecting pet supplies at the fan zone as part of its “PAWS in the PMAC” campaign to benefit the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society.
Dating back to the 2005 season, LSU has racked up a 166-65 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.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @lsuvolleyball and @lsucoachfran on Twitter.