LSU’s volleyball team faced Texas A&M (3-5, 0-1 in SEC) in its first Southeastern Conference match this year.
In front of the fifth-largest crowd in school history, LSU (10-2, 1-0 in SEC) fed off the energy from the hometown crowd and came away with the victory over Texas A&M in straight sets: 25-20, 25-22, 25-23.
The Tigers have surpassed their overall win total from a year ago after just 12 games with the win over Texas A&M.
“This was as electric of a crowd as I’ve ever had and I’ve coached here for twenty years,” coach Fran Flory said following the victory. “It was a great crowd and they were engaged. We talk about having positive energy on our team and sharing that and being enthusiastic. The crowd fed on that and fed us through our lull we had in the third set, they carried us.”
The Tigers entered the match after a bounce back victory over Houston in its home-opener last week. The Tigers had a dominating outing in the their last matchup, routing Houston in straight sets by a combined total of 20 points.
Following the Houston victory, Flory expressed her satisfaction with her team’s offensive balance and how it would be a point of emphasis moving forward.
Flory’s hope was for her squad to carry an improved balanced attack over to the following games to come. LSU’s team balance proved to be its most dangerous weapon against the Aggies with solid performances from multiple players.
“We know we have to be balanced to be successful,” Flory said. “When we don’t have to do that and Anna (Zwieblel) is able to distribute the ball throughout our entire lineup then we’re hard to defend. In the third set we kind of went away from that, our ball control failed a little bit, but we still stayed the course.”
Similar to its previous match, LSU immediately set the tone, jumping out to an early lead and applying early pressure to Texas A&M. With Texas A&M failing to grasp any sort of flow offensively, the Tigers managed to roll to the first set victory and drawing first blood on the match.
LSU maintained its early-established high intensity over the course of the match, winning the second and third sets to complete the eventual sweep.
“The most important thing is to hold serve at home and our team knows that as our goal for the remainder of the season,” Flory said.
LSU will return to action on Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the Kentucky Wildcats at 12:30 p.m. CT.
LSU freshman middle blocker and outside hitter Taylor Bannister (7) prepares for the next play during the Lady Tigers' 3-0 win over the University of Houston on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2017, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
