The LSU volleyball team travels to Lexington today looking for its first road win against Kentucky since 1999. The match is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum.
In their first meeting of the season, the Tigers (8-11, 3-4 conference) pulled off a five-game win against the Wildcats (10-8, 2-4).
Freshman Markeisha Constant and junior Regan Hood both recorded 18 kills in the match on Sept. 28th at LSU. Hood currently leads the Southeastern Conference in kills per game with 4.59.
Kentucky’s Melissa Popp racked up 19 kills in the first match against the Tigers while Sarah Spinner recorded 14. Jennifer Casper had 19 digs for the Wildcats.
Constant said the Tigers will have to communicate on and off the court in order to win this weekend.
“Everybody needs to stay focused,” Constant said. “We need to forget about previous games and focus on what’s ahead of us.”
LSU coach Fran Flory has focused on communication during practice in hopes of reducing errors in games. Flory said playing this match in Lexington will present a difficult situation for the Tigers.
“This will be a hostile environment because we will be playing in front of Kentucky’s Midnight Madness crowd,” Flory said. “I think it will be a great situation for our young players and we will just have to see how they weather the conditions.”
The match officially begins the Alumni Weekend at Kentucky. A special halftime show is planned.
The Tigers are 16-21 all-time against Kentucky and are 5-8 while playing the Wildcats in Lexington.
The Wildcats are coming off a 3-1 loss to Tennessee. Danielle Wallace had a career game against the Volunteers, recording 19 kills in three games and hitting .533. Defensively, Wallace had 10 digs.
LSU currently ranks No. 2 in the SEC western division despite having a losing record in conference play. Flory said this weekend offers a huge opportunity for the Tigers.
“This is an important match for us,” Flory said. “We need to go in and be very aggressive and single-minded in our focus. Our conference and our division are in a state of free-for-all right now and the opportunity exists for us to grab that second spot in our division and we need to take it.”
Following the Kentucky match, the Tigers will travel to South Carolina for a Sunday match against the Gamecocks (10-8, 4-2). South Carolina ranks just above the Tigers at No. 5 in the SEC.
“We have a golden opportunity to prove ourselves and show we should be at the top of the SEC,” said junior setter Beth Cowley. “If we pick up our level of play and beat South Carolina, we’ll prove we deserve to be at the top of the SEC.”
The Tigers were swept by the Gamecocks when the two teams met in September.
In their last meeting, South Carolina had a team total 13 blocks while holding LSU to eight in the match. The Tigers committed 33 attacking errors against the Gamecocks.