BATON ROUGE, La. – With the end of the regular season on the horizon, the LSU volleyball team returns to the court on Friday night, hosting the Missouri Tigers at 7 p.m. inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on SEC Network+ in the first of their last two home matches of the season.
The final two remaining matches of the season this weekend are free to the public thanks to The Advocate’s “Geaux Free” initiative, as fans are asked to come out this weekend and bring canned goods for the final push of the team’s philanthropic effort in Meals From Mike. The team has already dished out over 200 pounds of food to local food banks, looking to match or exceed that number by the end of the weekend.
Friday will also serve as Family Night, in honor of the fourth-annual “Rock The PMAC” event that will see the LSU drum line perform for the Tiger faithful in attendance. It will also be the final opportunity for fans to partake in the Friday Night Meal Deal, as this week’s menu will feature herb baked chicken with chef du jour starch and vegetable.
Prior to the start of the match, the team will recognize and honor its outgoing senior class of Helen Boyle, Madi Mahaffey, Malorie Pardo and Laura Whalen, as they play in their final matches in the Purple and Gold at home this weekend. The quartet has been responsible for 66 wins, an SEC Western Division crown and NCAA Tournament Regional win during their careers as Tigers.
For the first time since early October, the Tigers are looking to rebound after a tough loss over the weekend, falling to 16-8 on the season and 11-4 in the SEC to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in five sets in Starkville last Sunday. Although the defeat snapped the team’s 11-match winning streak, the group is looking to push forward and cement a tournament spot to extend the seniors’ time on the court.
“I think it’s important for the team to go out and play for their legacy, and play for them because they’ve left their mark and have been great ambassadors for this program,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I think this team has a bigger vision, and now that we’ve had this stumbling block they know we have to win out to advance and that’s the goal. I think if you ask the seniors on the importance of winning on senior night versus winning to have a chance to continue playing a couple of matches longer, I think they would prefer to play a couple matches longer because they aren’t ready for it to be over.”
With the team seemingly back at full strength after fighting its way through a gauntlet of opponents, the Tigers look to take advantage of its home court to keep its chances at a postseason berth alive with Missouri on Friday and Auburn on Sunday. LSU has won its last five at home dating back to last month, hoping to close its season on its home court in style before closing out the year at South Carolina next Saturday.
For LSU to do that, they’ll need the form that saw them completely outmatch teams both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, while holding back on unforced errors and sluggish play the team got bogged down by on Sunday. Although the squad split the weekend with a win over Tennessee last Friday, the Tigers hit just .207 as opposed to the near .300 levels the team had the weeks before. Still, the group held both teams to just a .105 hitting clip, while earning 17 digs per set and over two blocks.
Leading that charge defensively was junior libero Haley Smith who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, after piecing together one of her best weeks in a Tiger uniform. Averaging over five digs per set in the two matches, not only did the Meraux, Louisiana, native net a career high with 30 digs against MSU, but became the 15th player in team history to earn 1,000 digs in a single career. With a few more standout performances like that, she could become the first player since Elena Martinez to earn 500 digs in back-to-back seasons.
Although these types of performances have become routine, sophomore Briana Holman continued her ascent up the leaderboard by setting a new career high in kills with 25 on Sunday, hitting above .500 with eight blocks and four digs. Holding the sixth spot nationally in blocks and 14th in total blocks, the Texas product leads the league in points per set, averaging nearly five per set on the season at 4.99.
Katie Lindelow, who earned her fifth double-double of the season against the Bulldogs with 14 kills and a season-high 18 digs, is averaging 2.06 on the season which is fourth, while sitting second on the team in digs with a 2.43 average. Gina Tillis has come on strong in the latter portion of the season, finishing with 11 kills on Sunday, her eighth double figure kill match of the year, and is averaging 2.72 per set and 3.22 points per set in conference play.
Second on the team in number and leading the group in average, Mimi Eugene continues to be a force in the serving game, as she earned two more service aces on Sunday to increase her 0.31 per set which is currently in the top 10 in the league. Eugene also had another impressive performance in the back row earning 10 digs against the Bulldogs. Emily Ehrle has started each of the past 14 matches for LSU, earning 39 kills and 21 total blocks during that stretch, including earning a career high four digs on Sunday against MSU.
Going out as only the second player in program history to earn multiple seasons with 1,000 assists in a career, Pardo finished one assist shy of matching her season high with 57 on Sunday, her fifth match in her last eight with at least 50. Pardo has already surpassed her total season bests in kills (81) and points (142) already this season.
With a 3-0 win under its belt on the road, LSU will be looking to earn the season sweep of Missouri on Friday, as Mizzou enters the match 16-14 overall and 7-8 in the SEC. Missouri split a pair of home matches over the weekend, and have won two of its last five and four of their last 10. Missouri is just 4-7 away from Columbia this season, with a 2-5 record in league contests.
“This team has definitely moved past last week, and completely shifted its focus to Friday and getting back on the court,” Flory said. “A lot of teams are in this stretch of the season with bumps and bruises, but you just have to fight through it and be tough physically and mentally to get through to the end.”
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.