The setter in volleyball often draws comparisons to quarterback in football or point guard in basketball.
While the position may not garner the same attention or praise as similar spots in other sports, it bears the same amount of responsibility and importance, as a vast majority of offensive plays run through it.
A good setter must act as an offensive coach, reading and predicting the actions of everyone on the court, communicating what they see to their teammates and reacting as quickly as possible.
“You can’t succeed without it,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. 
Flory called the setter the most important position to fill when recruiting. She and her staff struck gold when they landed junior setter Malorie Pardo from League City, Texas, in 2011.
Setting is in Pardo’s blood.
She uses her mother, a decorated former setter for the University of Houston, as a perpetual source of inspiration and competition.
“I’ve always aspired to be better than her,” Malorie said. “I want to be better than my mom. I want to have better stats. I want to do everything she did plus one.”
Her mother always attempts to help her improve, and although she may not always want to admit it, Malorie said she tries to heed all the advice her mother gives.
“She’s always been in my ear about doing little things,” Pardo said. “ … I might say ‘Be quiet. I got it,’ but it stays with me.”
Since becoming a Tiger, Pardo has amassed 2,576 assists, putting her at sixth on LSU’s all-time list, just 177 shy of surpassing Randi Winn and improving to No. 5.
Due to the tenacity and drive Pardo displayed during the recruiting process, Flory said she saw the relatively undersized setter as a prospect with limitless potential.
She won the starting job as a freshman and tallied 1,230 assists, earning her 2011 First-Team Southeastern Conference All-Freshman honors.
Pardo added 1,055 to her total in her sophomore season, making her just the eighth Tiger to eclipse 2,000 assists and the first to record back-to-back 1,000-assist seasons since Katie Kubena in 2001 and 2002.
Sophomore outside hitter Cati Leak said she finds comfort knowing she has a reliable teammate like Pardo to set up her shots.
“We trust Mal to put us in the right situations,” Leak said. “She is obviously showing that she is doing that because she is so high up in the rankings.”
Now with two years under her belt, Pardo has reached a new level of productivity according to Flory.
“Malorie has evolved from a very good athlete who set to being a true quarterback as a setter who understands how to run an offense and how to create opportunities for her hitters,” Flory said. “That evolution itself, I don’t know that I can explain how valuable that is to our program.”
In six games this season, Pardo has accumulated 291 helpers this season and is No. 2 in the NCAA with 12.65 assists per set.
Pardo said she had no idea she ranked that highly, and, frankly, she doesn’t care.
The only stat she’s worried about reads “6-0” right now, and as far as she’s concerned, “LSU” should replace her name on the stat sheets.
“It’s not just me,” Pardo said. “My passers give me the opportunity to make these things happen, and my hitters put the ball away for me. It’s very nice to have a team I can make these big strides with.”
Pardo will not know if she succeeds in bettering her mother until she plays her last game for LSU. But she will get the opportunity to take down her mother’s alma mater on Sept. 21 when the Tigers travel to Houston to take on the Cougars in the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup.
“Malorie has evolved from a very good athlete who set to being a true quarterback as a setter who understands how to run an offense and how to create opportunities for her hitters. That evolution itself, I don’t know that I can explain how valuable that is to our program.”