A jam-packed weekend in The Capital City features the LSU volleyball team playing matches against Oklahoma and Texas A&M inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (9-6, 1-3 SEC) will open its weekend with a match against Oklahoma (7-5, 1-3 SEC) at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 11. The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a 50 Years of LSU Volleyball tumbler. Players will wear a hint of green to celebrate Student-Athlete Mental Health Week. The Tigers will take on Texas A&M (12-2, 3-1 SEC) at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 13, in the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Match. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a Full Fight pink t-shirt. SEC Network + will stream both matches.
LSU split a pair of matches last weekend, sweeping Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., and losing at Ole Miss, 3-1 in Oxford, Miss. The Tigers have a .220 hitting percentage with 13.11 kills and 12.19 assists per set. Defensively, LSU averages 2.11 blocks and 14.46 digs per set, allowing opponents a .221 hitting percentage.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson leads the SEC with 5.00 kills per set and 5.58 points per set. Robinson averages 19.2 kills and 21.5 points per match and has seven double-doubles and six 20-kill matches this season.
Middle blockers Angelina Lee and Jessica Jones combine for 198 kills on a .293 hitting percentage and average 1.96 blocks per set on 112 total blocks this season. Jones leads the team with 1.00 blocks per set and 57 total blocks. She also contributes 86 kills on a .280 hitting percentage. Lee follows with 0.96 blocks per set (55 total), leads the team with a .305 hitting percentage, and has 112 kills.
Graduate transfer setter Bailey Ortega ranks No. 2 in the SEC with 588 total assists and No. 6 in the conference with 10.32 assists per set. Bailey has four double-doubles and three matches with 50 or more assists this season.
LSU is 9-3 in the all-time series against Oklahoma, but 19-31 all-time versus Texas A&M.
Although Oklahoma has dropped three of its last four matches, the Sooners rank No. 4 in the SEC with a .278 hitting percentage, 13.74 kills per set and 13.33 assists per set. Defensively, OU sits at No. 2 in the conference with 2.67 blocks per set.
Pin hitter Alexis Shelton leads the Sooners with 4.45 kills per set (No. 4 in the SEC) and chips in 0.89 blocks per set and eight aces. Middle blocker Lydia Martyn ranks No. 8 in the league with a team-high 1.19 blocks per set on 56 total blocks. Martyn also has a .356 hitting percentage behind 104 kills and has six aces. Middle blocker Kelli Jo Burgess also breaks the top 10 in the SEC with 1.11 blocks per set, and setter Payton Chamberlain ranks No. 2 in the conference with 10.74 assists per set.
LSU and Oklahoma will go head-to-head for the first time in a decade. In the last meeting, the Tigers swept the Sooners in the 2014 NCAA Tournament in Eugene, Ore. Overall in the series, LSU is on an eight-match winning streak and is 2-0 when playing at the PMAC. The last match between the two clubs in Baton Rouge was a five-set victory for the Tigers in 1989.
Texas A&M is riding a three-match winning streak and has won four of its last five matches, including a two-match winning streak as the visiting team in SEC play. In league matches only, the Aggies lead the SEC with 2.82 blocks per set and have the second-lowest opponent hitting percentage at .189. TAMU holds its opponent to a .169 hitting percentage (No. 2 in the SEC) and averages 2.63 blocks per set (No. 3 in the SEC). On the offensive side of the net, A&M ranks No. 8 in the nation with 14.06 kills per set on a .270 hitting percentage.
Opposite hitter Logan Lednicky leads the team with 4.35 kills per set, is hitting .320 on the season, has eight aces and averages 1.06 blocks per set (55 total) for a 5.07 points per set. Middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla is tied for a conference-best 1.52 blocks per set (79 total) and ranks No. 9 in the SEC with a .376 hitting percentage on 110 kills. Middle blocker Morgan Perkins ranks No. 7 in the SEC with a .393 hitting percentage on 109 kills and has eight aces and 0.87 blocks per set this season. Setter Maddie Waak – a transfer from LSU – leads the SEC with 10.98 assists per set.
LSU has won two of the last three matches against Texas A&M but has fallen in three of the previous five. In the all-time series, the Tigers trail 5-12 in matches played at the PMAC.
Be the first to comment