BATON ROUGE, The. – The LSU volleyball team (4-4) will conclude the non-conference portion of its 2022 schedule at the Tulane Invitational Sept. 16-17 at Devlin Fieldhouse in Uptown New Orleans.
The Tigers will face Oregon State (4-4) at 7:00 pm on Friday and close out the tournament with a game on Saturday at 6:30 pm against Tulane (5-4). Only the game against Tulane will be broadcast on ESPN+.
LSU went 1-1 in Wisconsin with a four-set win at Milwaukee and a four-set loss at No. 23 Marquette. The Tigers are holding their opponents to a .181 hitting percentage this season behind 2.28 blocks per set and 15.10 digs per set (No. 4 in the SEC). Offensively, LSU is averaging 13.41 kills per set with a .246 hitting percentage, 12.48 assists per set and 40 total assists this season.
Outside hitter Sanaa Dotson ranks fifth in the SEC with 4.03 kills per set (117 total) and 4.64 points per set. Dotson also has seven aces, 18 blocks and 2.21 digs per set. Right side Hannah Jacobs is next with 2.59 kills per set (75 total) and has 19 blocks this season.
Libero Ella Larkin leads the SEC with 141 total digs and 4.86 digs per set. Middle blockers Alia Williams and Anita Anwusi lead the team with 1.03 blocks per set and 1.00 blocks per set, respectively.
Josie Vondran and Maddie Waak both handle setter duties for the Tigers. Vondra averages 7.52 assists per set (141 total) and has 23 total kills, 12 blocks and six assists. Waak is averaging 5.71 assists (120 total) with seven assists, four kills and four blocks.
Oregon State has won four of its last six games after opening the season with two losses. OSU posted a 2-1 weekend at the Asics Invitational in Corvallis, Ore. with wins over North Texas and Portland. The Beavers are hitting just .190 after 12.72 kills per set on the season, but rank second in the Pac-12 with 14.97 digs per set and have 2.50 blocks per set to hold their opponent to a hitting percentage 0.199.
Outside hitter Mychael Vernon paces the Beavers with 3.13 kills per set and a .248 hitting percentage. Vernon also has 25 blocks, four aces and 1.56 digs per set this season. Outside hitter Vivian Light is averaging 2.96 kills and outside hitter Kateryna Tkachenko rounds out the ball with 2.52 kills per set and 13 blocks on the season. Inna Balyko is the team’s setter and averages 8.89 assists per set (240 total) and adds 2.44 digs per set and five total assists.
Tulane is coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Santa Clara Tournament in California, where they defeated Fresno State in four sets and Santa Clara in five sets. The Green Wave are 1-2 at home this season following their Green Wave Classic Tournament Sept. 2-3. TU is averaging 12.60 kills per set and hitting .234 this season, although they are allowing their opponents a .261 hitting percentage and 13.03 kills per set.
Outside hitter Makenzie Martin leads the team with 3.26 kills per set, is hitting .245 and has seven aces on the season. Outside hitter Amarachi Osuji is next with 2.36 kills per set and adds 13 total blocks, nine of which are solo blocks. Middle blocker Kayla Kaiser, who is averaging 2.34 kills per set after a .352 hitting percentage, leads the American Athletic Conference with 16 aces. She also paced the green wave with 14 total blocks. Setter Kate Van Houten has 8.29 assists per set, 28 kills, eight aces, five blocks and 2.09 digs per set this season.
LSU and Oregon State go head-to-head for the second time in the history of the all-time series. The Tigers defeated the Beavers last season in four sets. The Tigers are 46-21 all-time against the Green Wave. The two teams will meet for the first time since 2019 when Tulane took a four-set win over LSU. The clubs have exchanged wins and losses over the last seven competitions.
Season tickets for the 2022 LSU volleyball season are now available. Fans interested in becoming a season ticket holder can get more information by clicking here. All tickets will be distributed via mobile devices for faster delivery of tickets to fans, contactless transactions at the gate and more flexibility for ticket holders. For more information on mobile tickets click here.
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