One week after returning home from a long road trip to Nebraska, LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory’s team will return to play in Lincoln, Neb., for this weekend’s Ameritas Players Tournament. But LSU (4-1) hopes it is not their last trip there.”We want to make it our second home,” said junior Samantha Dabbs. The Tigers want to make Nebraska a second home because this year’s Final Four is in Omaha.Senior Elena Martinez is ready to go to Nebraska to “prepare.””It’s exciting because when we make it to the Final Four, that will be where it is,” she said. “So it’s good to get there ahead of time and see what it will be like.”Flory, whose house is still without power after Hurricane Gustav, is more worried about the team’s mental state than its physical health after spending 10 days on the road.”The only thing that has been difficult with us has been the mental fatigue,” Flory said. ” But this week gave us a chance to get normal again, to get into our routine.”Staying in Baton Rouge this week and attending classes was routine for the team. Where they practiced was not.Because the PMAC’s main floor was a special needs facility the last two weeks, the team has been practicing at various locations this week, including CAP Elite — a performance facility in Baton Rouge.The team feels it is well prepared for this weekend’s tournament.”Fran is all about adapting,” said sophomore Brittney Johnson. “So wherever we play is not going to affect how we play.”The Tigers are coming off a weekend sweep of Nicholls State and McNeese State. They held their opponents to a .106 and a .045 hitting percentage, respectively.The Tigers open play tonight against No. 2 Nebraska (6-0), whom the Tigers have never beaten (0-6). The last time the two teams met was in 2003 at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.Flory said the match will be the “premier” event with all the people in town for Nebraska’s home football game against New Mexico State. She expects a sellout crowd of 13,000 at the Devaney Center for the match.Johnson is excited for the opportunity to play in front of such a large crowd.”We’re going to play up to the hype,” Johnson said. “The crowd is going to push us even if they are going against us. We are going to feed off that energy positively.”The Tigers will then face either St. John’s (5-3) or New Mexico (7-0) on Saturday afternoon.LSU will not play at home until Sept. 26 when they take on Tennessee in the PMAC.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]