The LSU volleyball team only has two more opportunities to prove to the NCAA Tournament selection committee that it deserves a shot at a postseason run.
LSU coach Fran Flory and her team seek out a pair of wins to finish the season when LSU travels to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss on Wednesday before coming home to an Alabama match Friday in the final showdown of 2013.
“If we win the next two matches, we’ll have a fairly legitimate shot at making the NCAA Tournament,” Flory said. “Once you get there, anything can happen. The focus is to win to extend the season and every time we win we get to play one more match.”
Wednesday marks the second time this season the Tigers have played Ole Miss. The Tigers won the first meeting, 3-1, in Baton Rouge.
The rest of the Rebels’ season hasn’t gone the way they would’ve hoped, dropping nine of their last 12 matches after losing to LSU, but Flory said she’s seen improvement in the young squad throughout the season.
“[Ole Miss] better than they were,” Flory said. “Those young kids have matured and developed during the season. They’re a physical team. Their middle is good, they have seniors outside. … I think LSU-Ole Miss matches at Ole Miss are crazy matches.”
The Tigers had several rough patches of their own this season after a strong start during their pre-conference schedule.
Flory said if LSU hopes to find success in the final two meetings of the season — particularly against a physical Ole Miss squad — the team’s middle blockers will need to continue dominating up front.
LSU freshman middle blocker Briana Holman ranks fourth in the country with 1.56 blocks per set on the season. As a team, LSU is No. 25.
“They need to block balls and terminate balls offensively, on top of that they need to make their presence felt at every step,” Flory said. “When our middles are engaged … everyone tells us, ‘Your middles are top in the league and really difficult to match up against.’”
Sophomore outside hitter Emily Ehrle has a different idea on how to defeat the Rebels for the second time this season. Ehrle said Ole Miss doesn’t finish games strong after coming out the gate with plenty of intensity to start the match.
“If we get a little uneasy in the first set, we just have to keep fighting because I think they do have a problem keeping it up for an entire match and closing,” Ehrle said. “I think if we stay consistent and don’t go up and down than I think we’ll have no problem with this match at all.”