BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team (7-11, 2-5 SEC) winners of two of its last three, returns to the court at 1 p.m. CT Sunday against South Carolina (13-5, 1-5 SEC) inside the Maravich Center.
The matchup between the Tigers and Gamecocks will be televised on ESPNU with Trey Bender and Nell Fortner on the call. The SEC match will also be streamed live on WatchESPN.com and the app. The first 500 fans in attendance at the match will receive a free t-shirt. Fans are reminded that admission to all home matches is FREE and of the new Geaux Clear policy.
Last Time Out
LSU fell in straight set to No. 9 Florida Friday night inside the Maravich Center. Junior Gina Tillis led the way with 14 kills for her ninth double-digit kill performance in the Tigers’ last 12 matches. Freshman Anna Zwiebel had a solid match with her sixth double-double of the season at 24 assists and 11 digs. Despite falling in three sets, LSU played strong in the second set at 25-20. With the Gators leading 18-11, LSU showed fight to win nine points and close in on the set.
A Look at South Carolina
After starting out with a 12-0 record in non-conference play, the Gamecocks have lost five of their last six conference matches. On Friday night, South Carolina was swept by Texas A&M in College Station. USC has four player in triple-digit kills led by Mikkayla Shields who owns 180 on the season and has played in all but one set this season. Shields has a .322 hitting percentage on 382 attempts. In conference matches, South Carolina is eighth in the league in hitting percentage and 12th in opponent hitting percentage. The Gamecocks are last in the league in kills in conference matches.
Team Notes
>> Junior Gina Tillis surpassed the 200-kill mark for the second time in her career after notching 14 kills against Florida. Tillis leads the team with 212 kills at 3.26 kills per set. With 191 digs, Tillis is second on the team and the Texas native owns nine double-double on the season.
>> Middle blocker Olivia Beyer has been a strong part of LSU’s lineup the last three matches off the bench against Ole Miss and as a starter against Georgia and Florida. Beyer owns 22 kills in conference play this season.
>> Freshman Anna Zwiebel has 547 assists for the Tigers this season along with 15 service aces and 147 digs. The setter’s tallied her sixth double-double of the season against the Gators.
>> Junior Cheyenne Wood is LSU’s libero and leads the way with 261 digs at 3.95 digs per set for fourth in the league. Wood works with Kelly Quinn and Katie Kampen defensively for the Tigers with Quinn holding a spot in the starting lineup in the last seven matches.
>> LSU leads the all-time series with USC, 24-14.
>> The Tigers have won 12 of the last 13 matches between the two squads, and LSU hasn’t lost a match to the Gamecocks in Baton Rouge since 2003.
Follow LSU Volleyball
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