With fall break beginning at the end of the day, most students will be leaving campus with plans of rest and relaxation.But the  LSU volleyball team has other plans.The Tigers (9-4, 3-1) will go on the road this weekend for two Southeastern Conference matches against Alabama (5-9, 3-1) on Friday and Mississippi State (4-11, 0-4) on Sunday.But even with an important match against SEC West co-leader Alabama looming, LSU coach Fran Flory said her team will not push aside its academic duties during fall break.”Fall break is fall break, but if you don’t do anything during fall break, you are really scrambling,” Flory said. “So we’re going to use this opportunity to get ahead instead of just taking it off.”LSU’s Friday match against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala.,  will be televised regionally by Fox Sports South.The Crimson Tide, led by reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Kelsey Anderson, are hoping to rebound from a 3-0 loss at No. 5 Florida last weekend.Following Sunday’s match, Alabama coach Judy Green said the Crimson Tide need to improve their defense before LSU comes to town.On Sunday, LSU will have to dig deep for motivation against a Mississippi State squad that is winless in SEC play.But the Tigers are not overlooking the Bulldogs, despite being favored to win the match.”We can’t think about people’s records before we go into it,” said LSU junior outside hitter Angela Bensend. “We have to play hard no matter what, so we have to go in mentally prepared and just get focused.”Sunday’s match has been designated Mississippi State’s “Dig Pink” match, which will promote breast cancer awareness programs and research efforts.”Just about everyone has been touched by this disease in one way or another,” said Mississippi State coach Jenny Hazelwood in a news release. “We’re proud to be able to do our part as a team and join this national effort by the Side-Out Foundation.”Mississippi State is coming off a weekend where it fell to Florida and South Carolina. Hazelwood said despite the losses, she was pleased with many aspects of her team’s performance.”A lot of the things that we’ve been working on — our blocking, our passing and our serving — are beginning to come around for us, and we’re starting to develop some consistency in our execution,” Hazelwood said.FLORY FIGHTS AGAINST BREAST CANCERFlory joined Mike the Tiger at the University Student Recreational Complex on Tuesday to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which aim to raise awareness, increase knowledge and raise money for breast cancer research.The ceremony featured K.C. White, dean of students and interim vice chancellor for Student Life. White is undergoing final treatments of chemotherapy for breast cancer. White will lead a 1-mile “Victory Walk” at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 16.To participate in the walk, individuals must donate a minimum of $10. The donation will include a ticket to the LSU-Arkansas volleyball match on Oct. 16.- – – -Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]