BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team will end a week of road matches on Sunday afternoon, traveling to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at 1 p.m. at the Gillom Sports Complex in Oxford.
Sunday’s contest will be televised live on the SEC Network, with Sam Gore and Dain Blanton providing play-by-play and analysis. Fans can watch the match online via WatchESPN, as links to live stats and video will both be available at match time at LSUsports.net. Continuous updates can also be found through the team’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.
The Tigers head into the match on Sunday looking to snap a four-match losing skid, as LSU fell in three sets Wednesday night to the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville. The loss dropped the team to 9-15 on the season and 5-8 in Southeastern Conference play, with five matches remaining in the regular season.
There wasn’t much LSU would be able to do to stop the offense of the Razorbacks, as Arkansas hit an opponent-high .376 in the match, while earning 12.5 blocks which was also a high for an LSU opponent. The Tigers finished the night with 30 kills and a .010 average, earning three team blocks as a group.
LSU was bolstered by the return of Gina Tillis, who finished the night with 12 kills, adding six digs and a block against Arkansas. Tillis had led the team in kills nine times this season, earning double figures in 11 matches. She and Cati Leak are the only LSU players this season to have over 10 matches with double-digit kills, as she has led the team in attack in matches seven times.
Cheyenne Wood leads the setters on the season averaging 5.42 assists per set in LSU matches this season, earning 16 to lead the Tigers on Wednesday night. Wood had led the team in assists in 19 matches in 2015 with double-digit assists in 22 contests, as she is second on the team in double-doubles with eight.
Going into the match against Arkansas just eight digs shy of claiming LSU’s all-time digs record, senior Haley Smith was able to capture the record early in the third, earning 11 in the match to eclipse Dani Reis’ 1,527 and own the record as Smith currently has 1,531. Of her record number, the Meraux, Louisiana, native has earned the bulk of those digs in each of the last three seasons alone, as the former walk-on earned 500 in 2013, 514 last year and 407 this season.
Freshman Olivia Beyer led the team in blocks with two against the Razorbacks, now tied with senior Emily Ehrle with 51 total blocks on the season. Beyer is averaging 0.98 blocks per set, while Ehrle – who had a block in the match as well – has a 0.70 blocks per set mark, while also leading the team in solo stops with 13.
LSU is 52-15 all-time against Ole Miss in program history, winning three of the last five and seven of the last 10 overall against the Rebels. This is the only meeting between the two teams this season, as in last year’s single meeting the Tigers were able to walk away with a straight-sets sweep of Ole Miss in Oxford. The Rebels are coming off of a loss to Texas A&M at home on Friday, sitting at 20-8 on the year and 6-7 in the SEC.
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 – Ole Miss
MATCH
LSU (9-15, 5-8 SEC) at Ole Miss (20-8, 6-7 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Nov. 15 – 1 p.m. CT
FACILITY
Gillom Sports Complex
AVCA RANKINGS
LSU – NR
Ole Miss – NR
MULTIMEDIA
LSUsports.net – live stats
LIVE STREAM
WatchESPN
TV
SEC Network