The LSU volleyball team bounced back from its first loss of the season in a big way as it grinded out victories over North Texas, Baylor and Houston on its way to winning the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup this past weekend in Houston.
The Tigers (10-1) placed a special emphasis on discipline as they refocused from losing their first game of the season against Miami two weeks ago. That focus showed as the weekend saw LSU prevail in two five-set matches.
The team kicked the weekend off with a tough five-set victory against North Texas (25-27, 25-11, 25-13, 22-25, 16-14) which improved its record in five-set decisions to 3-1 on the season. Despite freshman Briana Holman’s 17 kills and a .452 hitting percentage, LSU coach Fran Flory felt the team could have played better.
“I think we escaped with this win, and I’m not very happy with how our team played,” Flory said in a news release. “It could have been a bad point for us, but I credit our players for coming through to make some big plays when it counted most in the fifth set.”
LSU continued the weekend with a matchup against Baylor. The team’s focus on discipline once again proved to be key as the Tigers rallied their way back from an early two-set deficit to prevail in a second consecutive five-set match (26-28, 18-25, 25-16, 25-18, 15-8).
The team relied heavily on career days from Holman and sophomores Katie Lindelow and Khourtni Fears. Holman set a career high in kills with 19, while Lindelow turned in her second career double-double with 18 kills and 13 digs. Fears reached double-digit kills for the first time in her career with 12 in the match. 
“I can’t say enough about the resiliency our team showed,” Flory said. “With that being said, we can’t continue to keep falling behind by two sets.”
The Tigers moved into the final day of the tournament with a matchup against Houston looming and the tournament title on the line. LSU saved its best performance for last as it rode junior Malorie Pardo’s dominating performance to a 3-1 victory (25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19).
Pardo compiled 45 assists, 15 digs and five blocks on her way to being named tournament MVP.
“This was a great finish to the tournament schedule for our team,” Pardo said in a news release. “We’ve had a long three weeks on the road, but I’m very happy that our team was able to pull together and fight as a unit.”
The Tigers will return home next Friday and face their first Southeastern Conference opponent of the year in Georgia.