With just four games left in the regular season for LSU volleyball, head coach Tonya Johnson remains hopeful as she reflects on the recent games and prepares her team for some of the SEC’s toughest competitors.
In Week 8 of SEC volleyball, the Tigers were on the road in matches against then-No. 21 Florida and South Carolina.
On Friday, Nov. 10, Florida ran away with it in three sets and took the match 25-17, 25-23, 25-16.
“Some days we’ve been better, some days we’ve just been okay,” Johnson said. “We did some really good things against Florida, [but] once we got on a roll a little bit, we just shot ourselves in the foot, and we couldn’t rebound from it.”
After the Florida loss, the Tigers went into Columbia, South Carolina, with high hopes of ending the week with a win. On Sunday, Nov. 12, LSU came up big and took the win 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 25-19, 15-11 over South Carolina.
“Against South Carolina, we showed up and we competed,” Johnson said. “In sets two and three, I thought we [made] too many errors, but I think we got the momentum back on our side of the net in set four and going into set five. Set four and five are some of the best volleyball we played all year long. I’d like to see that continue and see if we can carry that momentum into the match on Friday.”
Ahead of its week nine slate, LSU is preparing for No. 8 Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 17, and Auburn on Sunday, Nov. 19.
The Tigers faced Tennessee earlier this season and were only able to string along at most 17 points in a set. Johnson said her team was still adjusting to a 6-2 offense in its first meeting with the Vols, so the kinks were still being worked out.
Now that her team has adjusted to its offense and developed more on-court chemistry, Johnson said they “have grown and gotten so much better.” A large part of this growth is because of right-side hitters Ellie Echter and Jade Demps, who have seen tremendous growth in their gameplay this season.
Echter started this season on the bench. Her first action of the year happened against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi on Sept. 15 and her second time on the court was against Tennessee on Oct. 8.
Following the conclusion of the Tennessee match, Echter had only made four attempts across six sets and averaged less than a point after only producing two kills.
Now, Echter’s numbers have skyrocketed. The redshirt sophomore averages 2.24 points per set thanks to 1.95 kills per set on a .333 hit percentage.
“Ellie has been unbelievable for us,” Johnson said. “In terms of her ability to score, her blockings getting better, and I just think she adds a lot to this team right now. We’re stoked about her progress and how she’s competing. It’s been fun to watch.”
Last time out against Tennessee, Demps hit -.111 and only had two kills. Since then, the senior has hit .232 through 29 sets.
In Florida, Demps was eight of 15 and only had two hitting errors to hit .400 through three sets. At South Carolina, she was 12 of 22 and only had one hitting error to hit .500 through five sets.
“Jade had one of her better matches of the season on Sunday [at South Carolina],” Johnson said. “Our right sides have come along really well, and they’ve gained some confidence.”
The offense is clicking for the Tigers, but there’s still work to be done. When Tennessee comes to town, LSU will be met with the difficult challenge of containing the Volunteers’ fast-paced offense. With Morgahn Fingall, Jenaisya Moore and Erykah Lovett on the pins for Tennessee, Johnson knows that her team has to be ready for a hard match.
“They are good, man. They’ve gotten better as the year has progressed; they’re good on every pin, good in the middle, the setting’s good. I don’t think they have any weaknesses,” Johnson said. “Hopefully we can use the home court to our advantage, and hopefully we compete. It should be a fun match. There’s going to be a lot of great athletes on the floor, but even more so, a bunch of great competitors as well.”
After facing Tennessee, the Tigers hit the road for Auburn. LSU hasn’t faced Auburn this season, but it’s prepared to see high-level defense out of its Tiger foe.
The strong defense from Auburn is largely because of its blocking; Auburn is among the top five teams in the SEC when it comes to blocks per set. Kendal Kemp is responsible for most of Auburn’s blocking, averaging 1.27 per set and ranking fourth in the SEC.
“It’s going to be a tough match for us,” Johnson said. “We’ve got four matches in an eight-day stretch, which is just crazy to me, but all of them are going to be battles. We’re going to have to make sure we show up for every single one of them. That’s going to be the key: Can we show up and compete for long periods of time in each of those matches?”
LSU’s home game against Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 17, will start at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+. Similarly, LSU’s road-game against Auburn on Sunday, Nov. 19, will be on SEC Network+ at 2 p.m.
