With the volleyball season right around the corner, the Tigers are ready to hit the court again after a historic 2022 season under then-first-year head coach Tonya Johnson.
The team has a few new faces this time around, so for the next few days leading up to the home opener Friday, The Reveille will give a rundown on the players.
First up, setters:
Maddie Waak | 5-feet-10-inches | Sophomore | No. 22
As the lone returning setter on the roster, Waak brings a quiet presence to the court, but plays with a lot of fire. Last season she split time at setter with Josie Vondran, but with Vondran’s eligibility running out, Waak was the main setter running the offense in the springtime and got to spend the most time working on building a connection with her hitters.
During her debut season in 2022, she averaged 4.38 assists per set to go along with her 469 digs and 20 aces. Since she shared the court with Vondran, Waak’s setting duties were fulfilled from the back court, so she didn’t spend much time playing up at the net.
Registering only seven blocks and seven kills last season, the one aspect of her game to look out for is how well she can handle herself against some of the best hitters in the country.
Waak comes into the 2023 season with a handful of pros and cons: She has experience playing for LSU over the other setters, and she’s had more time to build chemistry with the team, but confidence in the connections she’s established with her hitters needs to be on point if LSU wants to make it to the tournament again this year.
Emily Mitter | 5-feet-9-inches | Graduate student | No. 29
Mitter joins the Tigers this year for her final season of eligibility and brings four years of experience with her from Campbell University. During her time as a Camel, Mitter put up 4.89 assists per set and totaled 810 digs on a 2.08 average with 82 aces. She’s also played in every match since her freshman year.
Last season, Mitter performed better than her career average, accumulating 5.71 assists per set and 2.18 digs per set. Similar to the Tigers last season, the Camels ran a two-setter offense with Mitter primarily working from the back court.
Her four years of experience certainly won’t go unnoticed in the Tiger gym, but she still comes into the program with fundamentals to improve; since she spent her time in the back court, her ability to perform under pressure against other teams’ hitters must be strong.
Mika Rome | 5-feet-9-inches | Freshman | No. 20
Coming from Ra’anana, Israel, Rome brings international experience to the gym. She played for the Israeli National Team and captained the U17, U19 and U21 youth Israeli teams. During her time on the U21 team, she and her teammates qualified for the European Championship and finished in seventh place.
Rome’s international experience adds something different to the Tiger offense, but the question is: Can she adjust to collegiate-level play and run the offense smoothly at the same time? Her ability to play is certainly no concern, but the Southeastern Conference has some of the best competition across the country, and it’s important that the Tigers are ready for it.
Who will get the reins to the offense?
After looking into the options Johnson has at setter, there’s a few things she may consider:
Last season, the Tigers ran a 5-2 offense with Waak and Vondran at setter. While the team was able to perform well and made it to the tournament with a 5-2, a two-setter offense can disrupt the flow of the game. It tends to mess with setter-hitter connections. A more utilized offense is the 5-1, which gives one player control of the offense the whole game.
The one problem with a 5-1 for LSU is the fact that every setter available is under 5-foot-10 and most hitters in the SEC are well over six feet. Additionally, the Tigers are going to need a generally offensive-minded setter after Vondran’s graduation, but it could be difficult to achieve that with a smaller setter.
Another important skill to look at when deciding who will get setter is how well a player can discipline themself to hold a spot-on defense when playing the back row. Most setters often release from their base position without playing defense against the opponent. The key to a successful team starts at defense, so whoever proves to be the best passer and defender should get the nod at starting setter.
The Tigers have three talented players who are all more than capable of running the offense, and height is something that will have to be worked with. Find out who steps up this Friday when the Tigers begin their season at home against UCLA at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match is available for streaming on SEC Network+.
