Student-athletes don’t have the same luxury most students do during fall break.
While the typical student is vacationing or spending time at home with family, the soccer and volleyball teams are preparing for their next opponents.
“It’s kind of like a normal weekend for us,” said LSU soccer coach Brian Lee.
The LSU soccer team (6-6-4, 3-2-3) took possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division last weekend with a 6-2 win against Mississippi State.
Now is no time to rest as LSU battles No. 10 Florida (12-2-2, 6-1-1) on Thursday. Lee said he’ll see if his LSU squad with 12 freshmen is capable of taking on a top-10 team after gaining momentum last weekend.
Florida crushed LSU last season, 4-0, despite the Tigers boasting a veteran squad with eight seniors.
“We had a mature team last season, and last year we got hammered by Florida,” Lee said. “So being older and more mature last year didn’t really help us.”
Lee said college students always have a lot going on, so fall break shouldn’t be too much of a distraction.
He said the plan is to practice Tuesday and Wednesday, play Florida on Thursday, practice in Baton Rouge on Friday and fly Saturday to South Carolina in time for LSU’s Sunday matchup against the Gamecocks (12-3-2, 6-1-1).
“This year we play a different way, and we’re a totally different team,” Lee said. “So hopefully we’re getting better through the year and we can pull out a win on Thursday.”
The No. 17 LSU volleyball team (17-2, 8-2) is also going just as hard during fall break.
The Tigers played four matches in eight days starting Oct. 8, and coach Fran Flory said the break will give LSU a much-needed rest.
“We are mentally and physically exhausted,” Flory said. “The schedule dictates what we do, but our team needs this break, and the added rest and the added relief from academic pressure is going to be a positive for us.”
Flory said the normal practice schedule has been slightly altered for the break.
“We typically take Monday off,” she said. “But because we have Thursday and Friday with no school, we practiced Monday, we’ll practice Tuesday and Wednesday, and then Thursday we’re using as our second day off this week because we took Sunday off as well.”
Flory said the Tigers will travel Thursday in time to play at Georgia (11-10, 3-7) on Friday and Auburn (15-7, 6-4) on Sunday.
The Tigers won four straight matches before falling, 3-0, to Ole Miss last Friday. Flory said if the Tigers had kept the winning streak rolling, the break may have been a bad thing.
“Anything that breaks a team’s focus or breaks a team’s routine, if the team is in a good flow and a good point in their season, usually is a negative,” Flory said.
Flory said young teams and veteran teams handle fall break differently.
“This year I think it’s going to be positive, because we’re younger and less experienced at handling this,” Flory said. “If you have a senior team, a team that’s been there and done that, I think it’s actually more difficult because they get out of routine.”
Both student-athletes and students could use the time off, according to Flory.
“The grind is too long,” she said. “I think you need a couple of days to mentally recover.”
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]