The LSU volleyball team’s home game against the University of Tennessee will be one the more personal conference matchups for the Tigers this season.
The Tigers (6-9, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) are slated to face off against the Volunteers (16-3, 2-2 SEC) at 8 p.m. tonight in the PMAC.
Many LSU players were recruited by Tennessee in previous years, but the Volunteers struggled in the process because of their way of contacting players and the team’s losing record at the time, said junior middle blocker Tiara Gibson.
“They would call at all hours, and I really wasn’t interested,” Gibson said. “It’s personal for me and other girls on the team. Now, we just want to go out there and show what they missed out on.”
Tennessee finished last season with an 8-24 record and 1-17 in the SEC, but changes in the program led them into this season’s solid start.
“We have a lot of respect for the change in the Tennessee program from last year to this,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “They will walk on the court against us as a more respected team than we played last year and have earned the right to be in the top layer of the SEC.”
Unlike the Tigers, Tennessee found success in pre-conference games. But although they started the season with a 15-game win streak, the two teams share the same SEC record, 2-2.
Gibson said the Volunteers’ early season success stems from being overlooked coming into the season, but the Tigers are not overlooking them, and she expects it to be a fiery matchup with plenty of verbal exchanges across the net.
LSU players and coaches alike said they will have to control their side of the net if they hope to win. The team has issues this season playing after the scoreboard too much and worrying about more than their side of the court, but they remain confident while improving.
“We are a tough team to beat as long as we can control the controllable, things like being prepared, early and calm,” Gibson said. “Sometimes, we expect so much from ourselves that we let things get bigger than they need to be. If we take care of our side, it’s going to be tough for them to take care of theirs.”
The focus in practice is working on ball control and passing, after a sloppy serve-and-pass performance in Auburn, Alabama, on Sunday, which caused LSU the match.
“I’m frustrated for them because I think we had a shot [against Auburn] and let that get away,” Flory said. “We can’t continue to get to five sets and not finish when we have the chance. We have to grow up, gain a little confidence, and our upperclassmen have to step up, which I expect they will.”