BATON ROUGE, La. – After playing its last three matches at home, the LSU volleyball team heads out on the road for a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday night against the Texas A&M Aggies inside Reed Arena and televised live on the SEC Network.
The first of two matches for the team this week will have commentators Tiffany Greene and Missy Whittemore on the call for the network, with the match being streamed live online through WatchESPN. Links to live stats and video can be found at LSUsports.net, with updates available via the team’s social media pages on both Facebook and Twitter.
The Tigers head into action tomorrow looking to rebound after having their two-match winning streak snapped at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide in five sets Sunday afternoon in Baton Rouge. With the loss LSU fell to 8-10 on the season and 4-3 in Southeastern Conference play with 11 matches remaining in the regular season.
Even with the loss the Tigers are fifth in the league standings heading into a new week of competition, with a chance to remain in the top half of the SEC with some solid play heading into their date with the Aggies come Wednesday night.
“We just have to go into practice ready for Wednesday when we play Texas A&M,” sophomore outside hitter Gina Tillis said. “The way the conference standings are right now, it’s really anyone’s to get. We need to be ready to go no matter what.”
The remaining string of matches will test LSU’s mettle, as beginning tomorrow seven of the final 11 matches will be played away from Louisiana in opposing venues. The team has played just five total matches away from Baton Rouge, with just four more home games remaining for the squad between the end of this month and all of November.
Even with the loss, LSU has regrouped well as of late, winning seven of their last 10 matches overall and three of the last five to date. It was only LSU’s second conference loss at home this season, as the Crimson Tide needed to produce the highest hitting percentage for an opponent against LSU, and the second most kills by an opponent to go the distance against the Tigers. It was only the second time this season that the team has lost a match after winning the first set, as LSU has played four of its six five-set matches in conference play alone.
LSU was no slouch offensively to start, hitting .471 in the first set of the contest to net its highest in a single set this season, having just one attack error in the process. The Tigers have continued their push to be a balanced offense, hitting above .200 for the third straight match, while in those same matches committing fewer than 20 attack errors as a team during those contests.
Leading the way was Tillis against Alabama, as she finished with 19 kills, leading the team in that category for the first time since having 20 against Auburn on the road. That was also the same weekend she had 37 against Georgia, as the Rockwall, Texas, native is averaging 3.31 kills per set overall, and 4.22 kills per set in league matches.
Freshman Toni Rodriguez earned her sixth double figure kill match, and her third in a row, on Sunday as she finished with 15, hitting .333 for the second straight match. She and Tillis each finished the pair of matches last weekend with 28 total kills for a 3.50 kills per set average, as Rodriguez only finished with seven attacking miscues on 63 total swings.
For the second time this season, both Cheyenne Wood and Lindsay Flory were able to earn 20 or more assists in the same match, as the duo produced the exact output the first time they achieved the feat with Wood having 26 and Flory tying her season high with 20. Wood is averaging 5.69 assists per set, while Flory is tacking on 3.74 through matches this season.
Although she didn’t finish with the most blocks on the weekend, senior Emily Ehrle moved to the head of the pack with her three-block performance on Sunday on the team, earning one of just three solo blocks the team had to give her six for the season which also leads the team. Olivia Beyer finished with eight and is second on the team, as LSU as a group has out-blocked each of its last 11 opponents.
Earning her 11th match this season with double-digit digs, Katie Lindelow finished a dig shy of tying her season high as she brought in 18 against Alabama, while Cati Leak brought in 13 in that match. Leak earned the double-double when coupled with her 11 kills in the match, finishing second on the weekend in digs to Lindelow with 18 to Lindelow’s 31.
Although Texas A&M leads the series overall, the last 10 meetings between the two sides has been dead even with each group winning five matches. LSU won the only meeting between the two team’s last season, pulling out a five setter and having won three of the last five against the Aggies. This will also be the only meeting between LSU and Texas A&M this year, and the second straight year LSU has played the match in College Station.
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 – Texas A&M
MATCH
LSU (8-10, 4-3 SEC) at Texas A&M (12-6, 5-2 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Oct. 21 – 7 p.m. CT
FACILITY
Reed Arena
AVCA RANKINGS
LSU – NR
Texas A&M – NR
MULTIMEDIA
LSUsports.net – live stats
LIVE STREAM
WatchESPN
TV
SEC Network