It’s coming down to the nitty gritty.
With just five matches left on the slate, it’s crunch time for the LSU volleyball team.
The No. 15 Tigers (22-2, 13-2) hit the road again this weekend, traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday to take on No. 21 Tennessee (21-5, 12-4). They finish the weekend Sunday in Lexington, Ky., against the Kentucky Wildcats (14-12, 8-8).
“Those two teams are always really good teams, especially on the road,” said senior middle blocker Tania Schatow. “We just need to be focused because we don’t get all week and work hard.”
The two-match swing is one of the toughest the Tigers will face this year.
LSU defeated both schools at home earlier this season. But LSU coach Fran Flory said it’s a whole new matchup on the road.
“Tennessee at Tennessee is always a tough match, and we haven’t had great success at Kentucky since I’ve been here, so we’re looking forward to it,” said Flory, who has not won at Kentucky since 2006. “We need to regroup. We need to get a little bit better, but I actually think the style of play will be a little better for us.”
The Friday afternoon matchup is going to be a showdown of two of the best in the Southeastern Conference.
Both LSU and Tennessee sit in the top four in the conference in nearly every statistical category, including hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists, kills and digs.
The Tigers are coming off a huge comeback win against Ole Miss last Sunday, and sophomore outside hitter Madie Jones said the team needs to keep the momentum going.
“Those are two great teams, and we know we’re going to have to prepare really hard and just keep going,” Jones said. “It’s not over yet. We want to win out the SEC, that’s one of our goals, so I think we’re just going to keep going at it.”
If the winning ways do continue, the team could be on track to set LSU volleyball history. The Tigers have not finished with two or fewer losses since the 1991 season, when they made an NCAA Final Four run.
And with just five matches left on the schedule, the Tigers are gearing up for this year’s postseason play.
“This is key,” Flory said. “This is a great road trip for us in terms of preparing for the NCAA tournament. They’re two NCAA tournament teams that we’ll play.”
First serve Friday afternoon is slated for 2:30 p.m., and the Sunday matchup is set for a 12:30 p.m. start.
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]