The 2015 LSU volleyball season ended with LSU coach Fran Flory in tears. The tears streamed down her face as the four seasons with the senior class was nearing its end after LSU’s final home match of the 2015 season against Kentucky.
“These seniors have meant a lot,” Flory said. “They busted it for this program for four years.”
Flory then wiped the tears off her face, gathered herself and said, “we built it around them.”
Flory went on and said her freshman class’ journey this season resembles the out-going seniors — the most successful class in school history with 60 wins and two NCAA tournament berths.
The group battled injuries early on, sitting older players on the bench as inexperienced players were thrown onto the court.
Flory reminisced on how the current seniors went through the same process years before.
“We built it around them,” Flory said. “[Katie] Lindelow and [Cati] Leak for sure. Haley [Smith] earned her way. She found her way. She’s pretty special.”
Flory’s tears reappeared.
But this time, Flory couldn’t contain her sadness as departing seniors and their families began to sing the LSU alma mater after their final home match.
Flory looked to her freshman players, who stood arm and arm with the seniors during the anthem.
“This freshman group will be very similar to that group,” Flory said. “They’ll have that same impact. They ended up doing a great job. They carried us back in but we couldn’t finish it for them, which is unfortunate.”
The Tigers battled throughout their 9-20 (5-13 Southeastern Conference) season with freshmen and sophomores as integral pieces on the court.
Their early experience benefits the future of the volleyball program, Flory said, much like it did four years ago.
“It’s hard when young players have to carry that much responsibility,” Flory said. “All the pressure was on those guys, and we didn’t create enough for them.”
The seniors kept up their passion and enthusiasm within the locker room, where Flory said her seniors had one message for the younger players.
“It’s your job,” Flory said.
Senior outside hitter Katie Lindelow, one of only three healthy seniors at the end of the season, said this 2015 season was nearly identical to her freshman season in 2012.
Lindelow and other freshman players were then thrown into the mix early on, but it provided a hopeful future for the team for years to come.
“This season feels so similar to my freshman year,” Lindelow said. “We had a real solid senior class, and a close knit team. Same thing, we didn’t have the season we wanted, but the girls came out and were better than ever for the next four years. I’m hoping they can do that, too.”
She then explained what aspects of this season will help the future of LSU volleyball.
“We had a lot of younger girls out here playing with us,” Lindelow said. “They had to grow up a lot. That will help them in the future.”