BATON ROUGE, La. – After more than a week away from competition, the LSU volleyball team returns to action on Friday night for the first of two matches this weekend, hosting the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 7 p.m. inside the Maravich Center.
The Tigers close out a three-match homestand this weekend beginning with the Bulldogs Friday, as the match will be streamed live online on SEC Network+ via WatchESPN with Lyn Rollins and Yvette Girouard. A link to live stats, as well as video, can be found on the homepage of LSU athletics at LSUsports.net.
Friday is “Rock the PMAC” as the LSU Drumline will be on hand to perform during the intermission break for fans, as the team will also hold its “Women in Sport” night, helping celebrate and promote women’s participation in sports, recognizing some of LSU’s women coaches as well. The first 500 fans through the facility doors will be able to pick up the 2015 LSU volleyball training cards. All LSU volleyball matches are free to the public.
The last time LSU touched the floor, it was coming off of a four-set win over the Tennessee Volunteers last Wednesday night in front of a television audience, playing in its third match in six days. The Tigers were able to take that win into a bit of a break, using the time to recover after the grueling first-half of the season before heading into the homestretch beginning this weekend.
“I was really proud of our effort against a much improved Tennessee team last week, and our performance coming off of a long road trip was really impressive because we knew it was a match we had to win,” head coach Fran Flory said. “The best thing about having that down time is that you have the chance to work on your needs, rather than preparing for that next opponent, so there’s time to get better in key areas before moving on to looking ahead at that next contest.”
Winners of three of their last five matches overall, the Tigers are 7-9 on the season and 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference in a tie for third place with 13 matches remaining in the regular season. That win over the Volunteers was against a team that came in with 16 wins, heading into the time of the year where RPI and strength of schedule begin to play into potential NCAA Tournament bids come December.
Over the course of the last four matches, the one constant has been the ability for the Tigers to start off on a good note in winning the first set. When claiming that opening frame, LSU has taken three of the four, while being 6-2 when winning the opening set in matches during the season.
While being a team that relies on playing solid defense, the LSU offense has been beginning to come around, as the group put together one of its best hitting nights of the season last week, hitting a season-high .255, the first time the team has hit above .250 this season. The Tigers had three players finish with double-figure kills, coming from three of the top four kill producers in Cati Leak, Toni Rodriguez and Gina Tillis.
Rodriguez led the team with 15 kills, leading the team in that category for the third time this season, while Tillis earned her third consecutive double-double and Leak earning her first since September.
The defensive effort was still there for the Tigers, finishing another match this season with double-digit blocks, stuffing 11 as a group. Leading the team with five was senior Emily Ehrle, who leads the team in solo stops with nine, while sitting second overall in blocks with 34. Tiara Gibson leads the team with 39 blocks, while Olivia Beyer is third with 31.
Earning her first start this season in the opposite jersey, Katie Lindelow led the team with 16 digs in the match, the second time she’s led the Tigers in a match this year. Finishing right behind was Leak with 12, as she needs just three more digs to become the sixth player in history to have over 1,000 kills and digs in a single career at LSU.
LSU holds a 56-8 all-time series advantage over Mississippi State in the series history between the two teams, but the two sides split a pair of matches last year, each winning on their respective home courts. The Tigers have won nine of the last 10, however, earning sweeps seven times in those victories.
“Mississippi State plays a style that’s very close to what we do, leaning on their defense to lead into their offense,” Flory said. “It’s a new team under a new head coach, but anytime we play Mississippi State we always expect their best shot and for them to play us well.”
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.
AT A GLANCE – Mississippi State
MATCH
LSU (7-9, 3-2 SEC) vs Mississippi State (13-6, 3-3 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Oct. 16 – 7 p.m. CT
FACILITY
Maravich Center
AVCA RANKINGS
LSU – NR
Mississippi State – NR
MULTIMEDIA
LSUsports.net – live stats
LIVE STREAM
SEC Network+
TV
None