BATON ROUGE, La. – After a lengthy break with only one match last week, the LSU volleyball team returns to the court on Friday night hosting the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at 7:30 p.m. inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge and streamed live on ESPN3.
All three remaining home matches are free to the general public thanks to the “Geaux Free” promotion, as the match will serve as Teacher Appreciation Night, as the players will recognize their professors and staff, with all LSU faculty and staff invited to attend. The match will also have a decidedly retro feel, as the Flashback Friday festivities throughout the match will feature fun facts about the players and coaches, among other surprises.
The menu for the second-to-last Friday Night Meal Deal of the season will be lemon dill baked fish with chef du jour starch and vegetable. Fans who signed up for the deal will be able to pick up their meal from LSU Concessions before the match starts. The first 500 fans through the PMAC doors will also receive a Geauxld Digger tank top as well.
The Tigers hit their first extended break in weeks at just the right time after battling through a thrilling 3-2 win over the Texas A&M Aggies last Thursday in College Station, extending the team’s season-long winning streak to 10 matches. With only five matches remaining, LSU will take on Tennessee on Friday before traveling to face Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon in Starkville.
“I’m really hopeful we’ll have a really nice crowd on Friday,” head coach Fran Flory said. “There are only three more times you’ll get to see this team in person here in Baton Rouge, and we really pushed to get a lot of groups and hopefully people will want to come out and see high-level volleyball product that we should be able to provide.”
For the first time since the opening week of the season, LSU’s streak has finally gotten the attention of the AVCA Top 25 pollsters as the Tigers are receiving votes in the latest release earlier this week, while also moving up after the win over the Aggies in the RPI which has the team at No. 21, helping its case for earning an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament which begins in early December.
Now further distancing themselves from suffering those opening three defeats to open SEC play, the Tigers have proven to be one of the most balanced teams in the league through two-thirds of the season, being ranked in the top five in the league statistics in seven different categories.
Offensively, LSU has the fourth-best hitting percentage at .253, while averaging 13.21 assists and 13.92 kills per set which is third and fourth, respectively. Defensively, the team’s opponent hitting percentage of .209 is second in the league, while being second in digs with 14.19 and third in blocks averaging 2.23.
For the first time since the Kentucky match, LSU had four players finish a match with double-digit kills, led by Briana Holman who led all players with 18 on the night. The sophomore, who is averaging nearly four per set on the year, produced her 19th double figure kill match of the season against the Aggies and hit over .400 for the 11th time.
Freshman Mimi Eugene earned the first double-double of her LSU career, tying her career high with 15 kills, while setting a new career best with 13 digs in the win. Eugene, who has played in all but four matches in her inaugural season, has finished with double figure kills in seven matches on the year.
Senior setter Malorie Pardo also netted a double-double with her 49 assists and season-high 19 digs last week, as she is averaging over 10.33 assists per set this season. The Texas product also found a way to be a factor offensively, finishing with seven kills on a .545 hitting percentage in the win.
Cati Leak nearly earned a double-double herself with 10 kills and nine digs, but really made her mark on the server as she earned three aces on the night which was a new career high. Over the last five matches alone, Leak has accumulated nine winners from the service line and currently has 20 on the season.
In moving to the middle blocker spot, Emily Ehrle has seen more playing time since the league slate began and is thriving as she hit .357 with five kills to go along with two assists. Gina Tillis again proved to be a powerful reserve as she had 10 kills, two digs and two blocks, while Katie Lindelow earned double-digit digs for the ninth time.
Leading that charge in the back row was Haley Smith who continues her climb up the career assist chart, earning 22 against TAMU, giving her seven with 20 or more in a match this season and pulling her within 28 of 1,000 for her career.
LSU won the first match of the series in Knoxville earlier in the season with a 3-0 sweep of the Lady Vols, and since that time Tennessee has only won one match in conference and enters on a four-match losing skid at 8-19 overall and 1-12 in the SEC. The Tigers snapped a four-match losing skid to the Lady Vols with that win, as the team will be looking to beat UT in Baton Rouge for the first time since the 2010 season.
“Tennessee is a much better team than the one we played earlier this season,” Flory said. “They’ve stabilized their lineup, and I think we have to be ready for a dogfight on Friday night for sure.”
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.