BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team returns to Southeastern Conference action on Sunday afternoon, hosting the Auburn Tigers at 1 p.m. inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.
All LSU volleyball matches in 2015 are free to the public courtesy of The Advocate’s “Geaux Free” promotion, as the first 1,000 fans to enter the Maravich Center doors on Sunday will receive an LSU volleyball Halloween tote bag.
Before the match, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., LSU will host its 20th annual Halloween BOOzar in the upper level concourse of the facility, where LSU student-athletes, coaches and staff will provide a safe trick-or-treat environment for families with various activity stations and carnival games. Fans are asked to bring canned goods that will be donated to local food banks in the area.
The match against Auburn will be streamed live online through SEC Network+ available through WatchESPN, with Lyn Rollins and Yvette Girouard calling all of the action. Links to live video and stats of the match will be available at LSUsports.net.
The Tigers head into Sunday looking to snap a two-match losing skid in league play, sitting at 8-11 on the year and 4-4 in the SEC after falling on the road Wednesday night at Texas A&M. It was the first time since the beginning of the month that LSU has hit the road, dropping its second consecutive SEC road tilt, as after Sunday the team will play six of its final 10 matches of the season away from Baton Rouge.
For the first time since early September, LSU was defeated via sweep, as the Aggies held LSU to a .103 hitting percentage in the match, the first time the Tigers have been held below .200 in a match in their last four. LSU had 31 kills in the match, but committed 20 errors for the first time in four outings as well against Texas A&M.
Sophomore outside hitter Gina Tillis led the Tigers in kills for the second consecutive match, but for only the second time this season, the leading kill producer finished with fewer than 10 as Tillis ended the match with eight. Tillis currently leads LSU in kills per set, averaging 3.27, while second on the team in total kills and third in hitting percentage.
Leading the way in kills is senior Cati Leak, who had seven against the Aggies, as the Guntersville, Alabama, native has 233 on the year, while also leading the team in service aces with 24, averaging 0.32 service aces per set which is in the top 10 of the SEC through this season.
The Tigers also got a signature performance from senior middle Emily Ehrle, who finished the night Wednesday with seven kills, hitting .400 with a team leading three blocks and a dig. The hitting percentage was the highest for Ehrle this season and for her career, as she currently leads the team in solo blocks with 11 and total blocks with 43.
Lindsay Flory led the team in assists for the second time this season, serving up 15, while Cheyenne Wood had eight, while also adding eight digs. Wood is averaging 5.57 assists per set for LSU, while Flory is at 3.80
Katie Lindelow tied for the match high with 11 digs, as she has led the team in digs in each of the last four matches since making the switch to libero. This season Lindelow has 12 double-digit dig matches, with her season high still being the 19 she had against Michigan in September.
The two sides meet for the second time in three weeks, as LSU will be looking to avenge its five-set loss to Auburn from earlier this month. While Auburn has won three of the last four meetings between the two sides, LSU has won seven of the last 10 overall, including sweeping Auburn last season in Baton Rouge in the only meeting between the two sides last year.
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 – Auburn
MATCH
LSU (8-11, 4-4 SEC) vs. Auburn (12-7, 4-3 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Oct. 25 – 1 p.m. CT
FACILITY
Maravich Center
AVCA RANKINGS
LSU – NR
Auburn – NR
MULTIMEDIA
LSUsports.net – live stats
LIVE STREAM
SEC Network+
TV
None