BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball hits the road for the final time in the 2014 regular season as the Tigers travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. in Columbia on SEC Network+.
After 26 matches in a grueling season, the finale looms large for the Tigers as they need at least one more win to hopefully qualify for the NCAA Tournament which begins next weekend at various campus sites, with the selection show taking place on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. In order for their name to pop up on the screen, LSU will need to focus on a tough South Carolina squad on its home court.
“South Carolina is a very good team on its home floor, and we know the challenge that lies ahead,” head coach Fran Flory said. “At this point it’s a one-game season, and we’ve treated the last two weeks like this. To accomplish the goals they set forth at the beginning of the year, they will have to be focused on making the next play and staying positive throughout.”
At 18-8 on the season and 13-4 in the SEC, a win could ensure the Tigers of finishing third in the league standings, one spot ahead of where they were predicted to finish in the preseason and six spots better than where they finished in 2013. That placing could be huge come Selection Sunday, finishing behind regular season champ Florida and Kentucky, who LSU earned a big win over in Lexington last month.
Before the final matches for all of the teams in the conference, the league announced its All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman team, with the Tigers getting three selections in Briana Holman, Cati Leak and Gina Tillis. For the first time LSU has earned two players on the list, included as one of six institutions with multiple players.
Holman is the first LSU player in the new era to earn back-to-back selections to the All-SEC team, after garnering the honor as a freshman last season. After earning the preseason All-SEC nod before the year began, the DeSoto, Texas, native has not lost the form that made her an All-American candidate as she currently leads the SEC in blocks (1.53), second in points per set (4.98), third in kills per set (3.88) and fifth in the SEC in hitting percentage (.391).
Currently second to Holman in kills and points, while being third in digs, aces and blocks, Leak has earned her first-ever postseason award now in her third season in the Purple and Gold. Leak is averaging 2.63 kills per set, hitting .263 on the season in 99 of a possible 105 sets played. The Guntersville, Alabama, product is averaging 2.31 digs per set with 229 on the year, while producing 52 blocks and 21 service aces.
Tillis’ selection marks the second-straight year the Tigers have had at least one representative on the All-Freshman team, as the Rockwall Heath High School product out of the Dallas area has 174 kills in her inaugural season for LSU, averaging 2.76 per set with a .209 hitting percentage. In just 63 total sets played, Tillis is blocking 0.46 shots per set on average, with a 0.73 digs per set average with 46.
Led by that trio, the team has found its identity on both sides of the net, as teams have struggled to figure out the right mix for slowing down LSU during matches. After holding both Missouri and Auburn below a .100 hitting clip last weekend, the Tigers were able to whittle down their opponent hitting percentage to a paltry .198, while increasing their hitting percentage above .230. The team is hitting even better in league games getting above .240 in contests.
The rest of the lineup has also produced at a high level, as Emily Ehrle has become a stopper at the net as she earned a career-high six blocks against Auburn, getting two big blocks on the solo end. Mimi Eugene and Malorie Pardo have become two of the most lethal servers in the SEC with Eugene averaging over 0.30 and Pardo just above 0.25 service aces per set.
In a back row led by Haley Smith, the dig numbers have skyrocketed as the junior averaged 6.00 per set last weekend, a full dig better than the week previous when she won the defensive player of the week award, and is currently averaging over 4.30 per set. Katie Lindelow has improved there as well, as she is in the top 20 in the conference in digs per set averaging over 2.50, while Eugene for the third time this season tied her career-high in earning 15 against Auburn.
The Tigers already have one win over the Gamecocks this season, defeating South Carolina in four in the PMAC at the end of October, winning five of the last six and 10 of the last 11 in the recent series history. South Carolina has won nine matches at home this season, but just three of those since SEC play began, as the Tigers go into the showdown with a lot at stake.
“We understand the position we’re in and what we can control,” Flory said. “When we step on that court it’s about that match and that match only. Looking past a team like South Carolina is dangerous and we cannot afford to do that. If we can take care of our business, hopefully the rest will take care of itself.”
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