With the regular season winding down, the LSU volleyball team hits the road this weekend to battle Southeastern Conference foes Georgia and Florida.
LSU (11-14, 6-6 SEC) is currently third in the SEC Western Division, one game behind Alabama. SEC implications ride high for the Tigers this weekend. LSU needs to remain in the top four in the SEC West in order to qualify for the tournament.
LSU finishes the regular season next weekend at Arkansas and Alabama in two crucial SEC West matches.
The Tigers split the weekend series last week in Baton Rouge, falling to Mississippi State on Friday before bouncing back against Ole Miss on Sunday.
Georgia (14-10, 7-5 SEC) is second in the SEC Eastern Division, but the Bulldogs have lost their last three matches. LSU coach Fran Flory said she knows the Tigers will get the best of Georgia Friday night.
“The Georgia match is traditionally a great one for us,” Flory said. “Each season, this seems to be a turning point match. It is the impetus for us or for Georgia to get on a roll. It is always highly competitive and I think our players and their players look forward to it each year.”
The Bulldogs lead the series against the Tigers 15-17. But the Tigers have managed to split the last six games with the Bulldogs and the overall series is tied 6-6 in Athens, Ga. The Bulldogs won the last meeting between the two teams 3-1 in the 2002 SEC Tournament.
Georgia is led by Julia Petruschke and Rashinda Reed. Petruschke leads the team with 4.31 kills per game, while Reed averages 1.47 blocks per game for the Bulldogs.
Junior Regan Hood and sophomore Megan Heinz lead the Tigers into Athens. Hood ranks second in the SEC in kills per game and has recorded 412 kills on the season. Also, Hood is only four blocks shy of 250 for her career.
Heinz leads the Tigers on the season in blocks per game and hitting percentage. She also ranks fifth in the SEC in blocks per game.
The match against Georgia begins tonight at 6 p.m. LSU continues the road trip to Gainesville, Fla. on Sunday to battle No. 3 Florida.
LSU is 0-3 against ranked opponents this season. All three ranked teams the Tigers have fallen to this season are ranked in the Top 10.