BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU volleyball team will hit the road for the first time in SEC play when it travels to Mississippi to face Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
LSU (8-5, 0-2 SEC) will play a 3 p.m. CT match on Friday, Oct. 4, against Mississippi State (7-3, 1-0 SEC) at the Newell-Grissom Building in Starkville, Miss., and then conclude the weekend with a 2 p.m. CT tilt on Sunday, Oct. 6 versus Ole Miss (10-3, 0-1 SEC) at the Gillom Center in Oxford, Miss. SEC Network + will stream both matches.
LSU is 66-13 in the all-time series versus Mississippi State and 59-23 all-time against Ole Miss.
LSU is looking to snap a three-match losing streak after dropping three-set matches to Missouri and No. 7 Texas during the SEC opening weekend. The Tigers have a .223 hitting percentage with 13.14 kills and 12.14 assists per set. Defensively, LSU ranks No. 6 in the SEC with 14.30 digs per set and an average of 2.00 blocks per set, which allows a .220 opposing hitting percentage.
Outside hitter Jurnee Robinson leads the SEC with 5.21 kills per set, 224 kills, 5.73 points per set and 246.5 points. Robinson’s kills per set and points per set averages rank No. 2 and No. 3 in the nation, respectively, and she averages 20.4 kills and 22.4 points per match this season.
Middle blockers Angelina Lee and Jessica Jones combine for 173 kills on a .295 hitting percentage and average 1.90 blocks per set on 95 total blocks this season. Lee leads the team with 0.96 blocks per set and is second on the team with 97 kills, and Jones averages 0.94 blocks per set and has a team-high .296 hitting percentage on 76 kills.
Graduate transfer setter Bailey Ortega ranks No. 2 in the SEC with 518 total assists and No. 5 in the conference with 10.36 assists per set. Bailey has four double-doubles and three matches with 50 or more assists.
Mississippi State is riding a league-best six-match winning streak, including a 3-1 win in its SEC opening match against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. The Bulldogs are hitting .249 on the season. MSU leads the SEC with 13.71 assists per set and ranks No. 2 with 14.29 kills per set. Mississippi State is also solid defensively, ranking No. 3 in the conference with 2.71 blocks and 16.45 digs per set to contribute to a .169 opponent hitting percentage (No. 5 in the SEC).
Outside hitter Kailin Newsome, a graduate transfer from Southeastern Louisiana, leads the Bulldogs with 3.50 kills per set and has 14 blocks, nine aces and 3.05 digs per set. Middle blocker Arissa Smith leads the SEC with a .537 hitting percentage behind 56 kills and ranks No. 8 in the conference with 1.23 blocks per set. Middle blocker Rebecca Walk also ranks inside the league’s top five with a .441 hitting percentage (No. 4) and averages 1.04 blocks per set.
Mississippi State has won three of the last five matches against LSU, and the Tigers have dropped the last three matches played in Starkville. LSU’s last when against Mississippi State on the road was a sweep on Sept. 29, 2019.
Ole Miss ended its non-conference schedule on an eight-match winning streak before being swept by Arkansas in its SEC opening match in Fayetteville, Ark. The Rebels will face Tennessee on Friday night for their SEC home opening match before taking on LSU. Entering the weekend, Ole Miss has a .247 hitting percentage on 13.24 kills and 12.41 assists per set. The Rebels rank No. 5 in the SEC with 1.78 aces per set. Ole Miss averages 14.55 digs (No. 4 in the SEC) and 2.24 blocks per set and holds its opponents to a .166 hitting percentage, the third-lowest in the conference.
Middle blocker Payton Brgoch leads Ole Miss overall and ranks No. 7 in the SEC with a .396 hitting percentage behind 2.39 kills per set and ranks No. 10 in the league with 1.12 blocks per set. She has 12 solo blocks this season and 10 aces, rounding out a group of five players with double-digit aces. Outside hitters Shayla Meyer and Nia Washington pace the team with 2.95 and 2.91 kills per set, respectively. Meyer has 12 aces and 21 blocks; Washington leads the team with 14 aces and adds 14 blocks. Setter Mokihana Tufono ranks No. 7 in the SEC with 10.12 assists per set and has 22 blocks, including five solo blocks, and libero Cammy Niesen ranks No. 2 in the league with 4.51 digs per set and has 13 aces.
Whenever LSU and Ole Miss play each other, it is a battle. Five of the last six meetings have gone five sets, including the last four consecutive matches. The Rebels have won the previous two matches in the series. LSU’s last win in Oxford was a reverse sweep on Nov. 12, 2021.
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