A few years back, LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory instituted a circle huddle in which the team holds hands after practices as a way to keep her team’s attention.She felt that in a circle, no one is more important than the next on the team and she wanted to instill that confidence in her players.Years went by and the hand holding died out, but the circle remained. Then a few weeks ago, Flory said the players brought back the hand holding to show a sign of team unity.It’s the little things like that hand holding which have shown the chemistry of this LSU team that may not have been so evident in years past.That team unity and confidence has kept the No. 17 Tigers (22-5, 16-2) with a chance at gaining at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title for the first time since 1991. This weekend at the PMAC, they host Mississippi State (8-21, 4-14) and Alabama (8-20, 6-12).Flory even admits she senses a different comfort level in these Tigers from teams she has coached in the past.”This team truly believes in themselves,” Flory said. “I wouldn’t say that last year’s team didn’t, but they didn’t have the level of experience this team has now … When this group decides they are going to kick it in, they really kick it in.”Sophomore libero Lauren Waclawczyk gave a lot of credit for that confidence to the team’s seniors, who will be honored this weekend.”This year we know what we are capable of,” Waclawczyk said. “But it’s more than that. We know, and we believe in it. Our seniors are really pushing success and believing in what we have.”LSU currently stands a half-match behind No. 10 Kentucky (26-2, 16-1) in the overall SEC standings and has already clinched the SEC West title.While LSU sophomore middle blocker Michele Williams gave the politically correct answer and said the Tigers won’t be scoreboard watching hoping for a Kentucky loss, she said it’s natural to look back on the team’s two losses to Kentucky and wonder “what if.””Of course if you lose, it kills you because you want to win,” Williams said. “But it’s something you use to push forward to the next matches and say, ‘We weren’t doing this, so this is what we need to do now.'”Kentucky has three matches left in its SEC slate, beginning tonight against South Carolina. The Wildcats then turn to play Florida on Sunday before a mid-week match against Tennessee on Wednesday.The Tigers will first turn their attention to Mississippi State, who defeated both Arkansas and Ole Miss last weekend.”Mississippi State … has something to play for in the end,” Flory said. “They have a chance to have one of their best finishes in a long time, and they are trying to find something to hang their hat on.”LSU will host its final home match of the regular season on Sunday afternoon against Alabama on Senior Day.”Every Alabama versus LSU match is a war,” Flory said. “It’s a slugfest, and with the emotion of having that being senior night could be an interesting combination for us, so we have to do a good job of channeling that energy correctly.”Waclawczyk said she is confident the team will take care of business on the court before the ceremonies after the match.”We don’t want to play sloppy,” the sophomore said. “We want to put on a good show for our seniors’ last home game.”—–Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]