Tigers move up to No. 13 after off week

The LSU football team, idle this past weekend, was ranked No. 13 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches Polls released on Sunday. The Tigers (6-2 overall, 2-2 in the SEC) travel to face No. 8 Tennessee on Nov. 4. The game will be nationally televised by CBS at 2:30 p.m.

Also during the bye week, safety LaRon Landry was announced as one of 17 players that have been named as quarterfinalists for the Lott Trophy.

The award is named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.

Now in its third year, The Lott Trophy is the first and only college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Also during the off week, defensive end Tyson Jackson was named one of 28 players named to the mid-season watch list for the Hendricks Award.

Jackson currently leads the SEC in sacks with six. In eight games this year, Jackson has also recorded 23 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for losses and four quarterback hurries.

The duo joined teammate linebacker Ali Highsmith on post-season watch list as Highsmith was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, which is presented annually to the top linebacker in college football.

BASEBALL ABOUT TO START WORLD SERIES

The Purple vs. Gold World Series, a three-game intrasquad series that culminates LSU’s fall baseball practice period, begins at 3 p.m. Monday in Alex Box Stadium.

The series continues with the second game at 3 p.m. Tuesday and concludes with the final game at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Fans are invited to attend all games of the Purple vs. Gold World Series free of charge.

The series will officially wrap up LSU’s fall practice period, which began on Oct. 1.

“We’ve had a very productive fall practice,” said first-year LSU coach Paul Mainieri, “We’ve learned a lot about our players. These final three games are designed to place some pressure on the players to gauge how they perform in a more intense atmosphere.”

LADY TIGERS HIT 20-WIN MARK

For the second-straight year and just the third time since 1992, the 10th-ranked LSU volleyball team reached the 20-win plateau with a 29-31, 30-23, 30-21, 30-19 win over South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 20-3 on the season and 12-2 in Southeastern Conference play, matching the most league wins for LSU since 1992 and the second most in school history. With the two-match season sweep of South Carolina, the Tigers have now won five straight over the Gamecocks to even the overall series record at 11 each.

For the first time in 2006, LSU had a pair of players reach the 20-kill mark, with Kyna Washington and Marina Skender each posting 20 kills.

In addition, Washington recorded a match best and career high .486 hitting percentage with seven digs, two service aces and three blocks. Skender posted a double-double with 14 digs, while leading the match with three service aces and also recording two blocks.

Melody Clark posted 11 kills for the Tigers, while Brittnee Cooper recorded 10. The pair tied for the match high with eight blocks each, which tied the season best for Clark and is a career high for Cooper. Kassi Mikulik led LSU with 16 digs.