BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team returns to action on Sunday afternoon, traveling to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at 1 p.m. inside Foster Auditorium in Tuscaloosa.
The Tigers will be making their debut on the SEC Network + digital application, which is provided through WatchESPN and can be streamed online through computers, tablets and mobile phones. LSU will have eight of their Southeastern Conference matches available through the digital application, along with the other four that will be on either ESPNU or the SEC Network.
Hosting its first match of the 2014 season on Wednesday, the Tigers suffered a hard-fought loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in four sets, ending the team’s three-match winning streak. UK was the fourth AVCA Top 25 ranked team LSU has faced so far this season, with no less than three more matches remaining against ranked opponents.
Although the Tigers surrendered the first set for the first time in four matches, the team held on to take the second to go into the intermission break knotted at a set a piece against the 14th-ranked Wildcats on national television. The team had its chances in the final two sets to make a game of it, Kentucky proved to be too much in the end for the Tigers to overcome.
“We knew coming in Kentucky was going to be a tough team, and now we have to shift our focus to Alabama because it’s a big game,” junior Katie Lindelow said. “We need to take care of that one and take it one game at a time from here on out.”
Lindelow is starting to come into her own after a string of competitive outings, putting together her second straight double-double performance with 12 kills and 10 digs against UK, with seven matches this season of nine digs or more.
Briana Holman led the team in kills for the seventh time in ten matches, earning 13 to go along with her seven blocks. Holman continues to lead the team in kills, kills per set, blocks and blocks per set, having a hand in 4.20 points per set.
Finding a way into the starting lineup as a freshman, Mimi Eugene produced another solid outing where she finished with 11 kills three digs and two blocks on Wednesday night, accounting for 12.5 points which was second only to Holman’s 17.0. It was Eugene’s third double-digit kill match in her last four, as the Houston native is averaging nearly two per set.
Malorie Pardo had her fifth match with 40-plus assists, dishing out 42 with three kills, eight digs and four blocks. Now with over 4,000 career assists, Pardo is third all-time at LSU, and could possibly move into second place by the end of the season if she can pass Daniela Romero’s 4,486.
Senior middle blocker Madi Mahaffey earned a season-high six kills versus UK, accounting for no less than three blocks in six of her last seven matches, while Cati Leak nearly had a double-double of her own with eight kills and nine digs in another all-around effort.
Averaging over 4.02 digs per set, Haley Smith has earned double-digit digs in all 10 matches this season, earning over 20 for the second consecutive match with 22, as she currently has three so far on the year. As a team, LSU has four players averaging two digs per set or above this year.
LSU takes on an Alabama team on a tear, winners of their last eight in a row and 13-2 overall on the year. The Crimson Tide won their conference opener in a 3-1 win over Georgia in Athens on Wednesday night, earning most of their wins in only three or four sets.
The Tigers have won three of the last five meetings against Alabama, as this will be the only matchup between the two this year, while the group is looking for their first win in Tuscaloosa since October of 2011.
Krystal Rivers leads the Crimson Tide in kills with 234, as Alabama hits .274 as a team while holding its opponents to a .164 hitting percentage in matches.
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 and @lsuvb on Instagram.