It’s been a welcome sight for LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory to see senior middle blocker Lauren DeGirolamo walking around practice with a smile while joking with her teammates.Just 10 months ago, the last time DeGirolamo donned the purple and gold, things weren’t so happy when the 2008 preseason All-Southeastern Conference selection tore her ACL and MCL during an Oct. 3 match against Ole Miss in the PMAC.Now back in practice in preparation for this Friday’s season-opening match against No. 5 Stanford, the Belleville, Ill., native said she is gearing up to get on the court.As she sat down to talk about the injury, the senior stared right at the spot on the PMAC floor where the incident occurred.”I hope I can return to the form I had my first few seasons and contribute to the team,” DeGirolamo said. “You don’t want to go into it thinking you can’t come back full force because when you think that, it will happen. I just want to be out there and healthy.”DeGirolamo isn’t alone in being ready for her comeback. Flory and her players are anxiously awaiting the return of the well-respected senior middle blocker.”I don’t have much more confidence in any other player on this team than I do Lauren,” Flory said. “I would put her in the match in any crucial situation and believe she is going to be successful for us.”Senior setter Sam Dabbs echoed those sentiments.”She holds everyone accountable, which we need,” Dabbs said. “Sometimes people can get away with being lackadaisical, and we don’t need that. She’s like a parent, always making sure you are doing the right thing, and she also holds herself accountable.””Granny” — as she is more affectionately known by her teammates because she is the elder stateswoman on the team by 10 days — redshirted her freshman season out of high school. She has already earned a mathematics degree with a concentration in secondary education and plans to teach high school math and coach volleyball.A two-sport start out of Belleville West High School, DeGirolamo averaged 21.1 points, 11.2 rebounds, 6.3 steals and 3.5 assists per game in her senior season in basketball, while shining on the volleyball court as well.It’s no surprise that with such dominance on the hard court. George DeGirolamo, Lauren’s father, wanted Lauren to continue playing basketball.”She would take over a game, which is something you can’t really do in volleyball,” said George, who travels to many of Lauren’s games along with his wife Helen. “You can make a big contribution and get a lot of kills and blocks, but in basketball, they really relied on her to do everything.”But Flory had other ideas.”She was just a tremendous athlete who had never really developed in volleyball,” Flory said. “[George] was doing a lot of talking about basketball and trying to convince me that she was a better basketball than volleyball player, and I kept saying, ‘I don’t think so. I wouldn’t be [recruiting her] if I bought that.'”George admits he is happy with the decision Lauren made to play volleyball.The decision seems to have panned out well for the fifth-year senior, as she has climbed up LSU’s record books in both blocking and attacking in her two plus years starting for the Tigers.Her .324 career attacking percentage ranks No. 2 in LSU history, while her 1.48 blocks per game is No. 3. In her sophomore season, she recorded 158 block assists, which ranks No. 4 in a single season in LSU history.”Anytime you go up to attack, you want to be smart and get the ball on the court to get a point for your team,” DeGirolamo said. “With blocking … you are trying to funnel the ball into your defense. So if the defense gets a dig, then I’m just as happy because I was able to help out our defense.”DeGirolamo has never been one to gloat about her accomplishments or step into the limelight, according to her teammates and coaches.Instead, she has been a role model for her teammates.”She’s never been the type of person that needs attention,” said sophomore libero Lauren Waclawczyk. “She will do any role that you want her to do, especially since we have so many options [at middle blocker] this season. If you asked her to be libero, then she will be fine with that.”Sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Michele Williams said DeGirolamo has never been cocky.”She’s very humble,” Williams said. “She’s always been about her team and not just herself.”That team-first attitude is what Flory said makes DeGirolamo the outstanding player she is and has been for the four-time defending SEC West champion Tigers.”She truly understands that this team can’t be successful unless we play like a great team,” Flory said. “I have never had one problem with her being selfish … She understands that she can’t reach the top if the team doesn’t, so she is going to make every effort to make sure her teammates are good around her because ultimately that makes her the best she can be.”
 
 
 
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