When the LSU volleyball team takes the court tonight in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the team on the opposite side of the net will be almost a mirror image of the Tigers.
Both LSU and its opponent, New Mexico State, have struggled with advancing past the first round in recent seasons.
The Tigers (24-7) have made the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons but have failed to make it past the first round, losing to Texas in 2005 and California in 2006.
The No. 14 Aggies (26-5) have participated in postseason play in four of the past five seasons.
But like LSU, New Mexico State has seen its national title hopes end after one NCAA Tournament game.
One of the teams will erase its recent history of postseason disappointment tonight and advance to most likely face No. 4 Texas, which plays Texas State in the other first-round match in the Austin, Texas, regional.
LSU coach Fran Flory said Wednesday that the Tigers and Aggies have striking similarities when it comes to recent postseason success, but she said the fact that neither team has made it past the first round in recent years shouldn’t overshadow the ultimate goal of a national championship.
“Our focus is that we want to win the last match of the year we play,” Flory said. “We’re such a young team that we feel like we still are improving every time. In that regard, we’re a little bit different. They’ve got some seniors that haven’t advanced, and I think the pressure is a little different for them.”
New Mexico State coach Mike Jordan said advancing past the first round would be a big step toward either team becoming one of the elite programs in the nation.
“It’s every player and coach’s goal to get deep in the tournament,” Jordan said. “When you do that, you set yourself up for greatness. Whoever wins is going to get a opportunity to play Texas, most likely. Beating them at Texas would be a tall order, but that’s why you play. You want to get an opportunity to get that marquee win against a team like Texas.”
The Aggies had an opportunity to get such a win earlier this season, but Texas swept New Mexico State in the University of Houston’s tournament in early September.
All of the Aggies losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top-10. New Mexico State dropped a Sept. 8 match to No. 2 Nebraska, and also lost three times this season to No. 9 Hawaii.
Two of the Aggies’ losses to Rainbow Wahine were in five-game matches.
“We’ve beaten the teams that we were supposed to beat,” Jordan said. “We’ve played at a pretty high level most of the year.”
LSU junior outside hitter Kyna Washington said the Aggies’ strength of schedule does not concern the Tigers.
“They’re a pretty solid team, but I feel as long as we play our game and come with our mind correct, we’ll be fine,” Washington said.
The team’s mindset has been in the right place ever since an Oct. 28 road loss to South Carolina.
Junior libero Elena Martinez said that match was the turning point of the Tigers’ season. After the loss, which was the Tigers’ fourth-straight on the road, LSU finished the season with six-straight Southeastern Conference wins on its way to a third-straight SEC West title and NCAA Tournament berth.
“That loss was the point where everybody was like ‘Enough is enough. This can’t be happening, and it’s not acceptable,'” Martinez said. “Coach made us re-commit and prove that we wanted to be here.”
The winner of the LSU-New Mexico State match will face the Texas-Texas State winner Saturday. The tournament’s national championship game will be held Dec. 15 in Sacramento, Calif.
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