The LSU volleyball team is looking for a bit of normalcy at the start of the upcoming season after going on the road for nearly two weeks at the start of last season because of Hurricane Gustav.
Eight returning Tigers from the 2008 squad will be there to help the Tigers along the way — seven of whom played at least 20 matches.
But the addition of the newcomers and the return of a few players from injury has LSU coach Fran Flory excited about the new season.
Both seniors middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo and outside hitter Marina Skender will be returning from season-ending ACL injuries.
“We have everybody back and healthy this year,” said senior setter Samantha Dabbs. “We’re going to be a completely different team. We have a new aura around us.”
The Tigers will also add three already signed incoming freshmen and a possible fourth as a walk on by the start of the season.
Middle blocker Ally Judkins, outside hitter Madie Jones and defensive specialist Meghan Mannari will all compete for a spot in the Tigers’ lineup this season.
Flory said Mannari will vie for a spot on the back row with sophomore Lauren Waclawczyk.”Meghan is a great addition,” Flory said. “She’s an amazing defender, and we are really excited about adding her. She was potentially going to walk on, but when we had the opportunity to put her on scholarship, we choose to do that because we felt like she will be that valuable for us.”
Although the Tigers cannot officially practice together as a team until Aug. 11 per NCAA rules, they have been holding “open gym” practices for the girls to build their team chemistry, which Dabbs said is important for the Tigers to grow together.
“The earlier you can start building that chemistry … the better the team is going to be in the long run,” the senior setter said.
The Tigers will look to get some normalcy and a strong start with a home tournament in the PMAC, but stormy waters lie on the horizon with perennial volleyball powerhouses Stanford and Nebraska at the forefront of a tough pre-Southeastern Conference schedule.
Stanford was the national runner-up last season, and Nebraska made it to the final four teams. In all, LSU will face 12 teams that were a part of the postseason last year.
“Opening up with Stanford is a great opportunity for us,” Dabbs said. “It will show that we can hang with a good team, and we have every chance in the world to beat them. We’re not going to go in there scared.”
The Tigers will face Stanford in South Bend, Ind., in the Shamrock Invitational on Notre Dame’s campus in their first match of their season Aug. 28. The Tigers will then play Denver and Notre Dame in the tournament before heading home for the Tiger Classic to face Louisiana-Lafayette and two probable top-25 teams in Nebraska and Tulane.
“Having those type of matches on our home court prior to conference play can do nothing but help us,” Flory said.
On Sept. 28, the Tigers will turn their eyes to the “dog fight” in the SEC with a pair of home matches against Tennessee and Kentucky.
“We have to stay healthy and have to continue to get healthy from our current injuries,” Flory said. “But this year’s conference schedule, home matches are going to become absolutely vital. Our pre-conference tournament is going to prepare us for that.”—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]