Last weekend, LSU volleyball traveled across Alabama and Georgia for its matches against the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs.
LSU took the upper hand against Auburn 3-1. However, things turned around when the Tigers arrived in Athens, Georgia, where they underwent a loss 1-3.
This weekend, the Tigers are competing at home against the Alabama Crimson Tide, so how do each of these team’s stats compare to one another?
Well, for starters, LSU has certainly climbed its way up the SEC standings. At the beginning of October, it found itself ranked No. 15 in the SEC. Now, however, it is swarming at No. 8 with the 15th spot now belonging to Alabama.
Neither of the teams are ranked in the AVCA Top 25, but their individual players have challenged for national statistical rankings.
If you’ve been keeping up with LSU volleyball, you’ve definitely heard these names before as these players seem to carry the team, especially when looking at the Tigers from a statistical point of view.
Sophomore outside hitter Jurnee Robinson and graduate setter Bailey Ortega both rank high in major statistics, as Robinson is ranked No. 4 in the country in kills per set and Ortega is No. 47 in assists.
In the SEC, Robinson is No. 1 in kills per set and Ortega is No. 7 in assists.
These two players set LSU up with a vicious offense. However, that offense has occasionally lacked coordination, which the Tigers have acknowledged after previous matches.
After LSU’s 3-0 loss to Texas, Ortega said that she wanted to put her hitters in better positions in hopes for the team to improve.
Since then, LSU has won four matches and lost three, securing their spot at No. 8 in the SEC.
When looking at Alabama, there is one player that has stood out in its stats, and that’s senior libero Francesca Bertucci, who ranks No. 4 in digs in the SEC.
While Alabama lost its most recent match against the Oklahoma Sooners 0-3, Bertucci led the match in digs, securing 10 digs within one match. That number, however, doesn’t speak to her personal best, where she contributed 26 digs earlier this season against Sam Houston, helping lead her team to a 3-1 victory.
In fact, Alabama showed great strength as a team in the early days of the season, where they debuted with a five-game winning streak. That streak has since been broken and while the Crimson Tide have been working to rebuild it, their attempts haven’t been great enough to stick.
The same can be said about LSU’s efforts as well, given that the team hasn’t been able to sustain a winning streak for more than three games.
Both teams appear to have their own positive factors in what fuels them as a team, but are those factors enough to successfully compete in the SEC?
Yes, the Tigers tripped over themselves in their SEC debut weekend, where they lost to Missouri and then to Texas, both 0-3. However, overall, LSU is 5-4 in the SEC.
That doesn’t necessarily sound like LSU has much advantage going for it, but when you consider that Alabama has won only two out of eight SEC matches, the playing field really gains some perspective.
Given that Alabama takes on Texas A&M on Friday before traveling to Baton Rouge, it can’t be said what result the Crimson Tide will head into the PMAC with. However, A&M is ranked No. 5 in the SEC at the moment, so it won’t be an easy match for the Crimson Tide.
The Tigers should have the upper hand against Alabama with its NCAA-ranked offensive duo of Robinson and Ortega, and if they win this match, they will find themselves ranked higher in the SEC and better prepared to take on the Tennessee Volunteers next weekend.
