LSU got more than just its first Southeastern Conference weekend road sweep of the season by defeating Mississippi State and Alabama this weekend. With Friday night’s 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 26-24, 25-15) victory against the Bulldogs, LSU coach Fran Flory collected the 300th victory of her head coaching career. “A coach is only as good as the players she’s coached,” Flory said. “I’ve had some great players through my years as a coach, and this is as much of an accomplishment for them as it is for me.” LSU senior libero Elena Martinez said the team was happy to be a part of Flory’s milestone victory. “It’s always great to be such a vital part of someone else’s success and to help them achieve such a great goal,” Martinez said. The victory against Mississippi State also gave the Tigers the lead in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.”It’s a big boost in morale for us heading into next weekend,” Martinez said. LSU sophomore setter/outside hitter Brittney Johnson hit at a .579 clip to go along with 12 kills and 11 digs in the match. Flory said Johnson will still play setter at times, but she has proved that she can also be effective at outside hitter. “She’s certainly shown us that she is more than capable of being an offensive threat,” Flory said. “She’s very knowledgeable about what shots to take and when to take them.” The Tigers finished the weekend by defeating Alabama, 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-13, 20-25, 15-13), Sunday afternoon to secure their division lead. The victory improved LSU’s record this season when winning the first set to 7-0. “In both matches this weekend, we did a great job of executing early on,” Flory said. “We did a great job of taking the crowd out of the match by winning the first set.” Junior setter Samantha Dabbs had a game-high 42 assists in the match, and junior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper had eight blocks. Freshman outside hitter/middle blocker Michele Williams, who has stepped in for injured junior middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo, had 15 kills for the Tigers while hitting .462 in the match. “Michele has been doing an amazing job,” Martinez said. “She’s not playing like a freshman at all. She’s very capable of being a huge offensive threat for us, and she proved that this weekend.” LSU (11-6, 6-4) returns to action Friday against South Carolina (15-4, 7-3) at 7 p.m. in the PMAC. The match will mark the beginning of the second half of SEC play for the Tigers.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]