The LSU volleyball team beat Texas A&M in straight sets (25-9, 25-17, 25-22) Saturday to complete a weekend sweep at the Texas A&M Invitational.
The No. 23 Tigers started the weekend with two wins on Friday, defeating Pacific, 3-1, and Siena, 3-0. The team is 3-0 for the first time since 2007.
Junior middle blocker Michele Williams earned tournament MVP honors, while senior outside hitter Angela Bensend and junior libero Lauren Waclawczyk were named to the All-Tournament team.
In the final match, Williams connected in 12 of 19 swings without an attack error for a career-best .632 hitting percentage.
“We know those three have to be good for us to succeed,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. “[Williams] has been this force for us the whole time, but people didn’t know it or didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it because we had [former middle blocker Brittnee] Cooper. People tend to watch that rather than know the work that Michele has always put in.”
Waclawczyk, who managed eight digs and six assists in the third match, said the award honors could have gone to anyone on the team.
“I think all of us could have gotten [All-Tournament honors],” Waclawczyk said. “We had such a good team effort this weekend. Everyone had such an important role, and it makes you work hard for each other.”
The Tigers earned a .274 attack percentage through the weekend while holding opponents to .066 team clip.
Flory said that by the end of the weekend, the team had gone above and beyond what she expected.
“I think we started the weekend very close to what our expectations were,” Flory said. “We thought we were going to be a little over-prepared and over-anxious, and [Friday] we played that way. But [Saturday] we actually surpassed my expectations of where we would be at this point.”
Waclawczyk also said the team is moving in the right direction.
“The first few games were a good starting point for the season, and the last game we brought it all together,” Waclawczyk said. “We stayed focused the whole time and came out with a really good win. I think we really did take that step forward this weekend.”
Flory said she was glad to get three nonconference wins under her belt and said pre-conference tournaments are the key to getting into NCAA postseason play. The team ended last season’s NCAA tournament run with a second-round loss to Texas A&M.
Senior setter Brittney Johnson said she was excited to have the opportunity to get back at the Aggies this year.
“I feel like we came in as a team and played really well and played together,” Johnson said. “It was definitely good to have some revenge on [Texas A&M] because they kicked us out of the playoffs [last season].”
Even with three wins in the bag, Waclawczyk — known on the court as “Sunshine”  — said there is work to be done to take the team to the next level.
“We are still a young team,” Waclawcyzk said. “You can’t ever be satisfied. Being complacent with what you’re doing can be a disease. We have to keep taking steps forward.”
Flory said the team is a work in progress, but showed signs of its potential this weekend.
“I think what we got out of this weekend was a little glimpse of when this group puts their minds to something, they can do some special things,” Flory said. “There’s plenty of improvement we’re going to make throughout the season, but it was certainly an outstanding effort.”
The Tigers travel back to Texas this weekend for matches with Alcorn State, Central Arkansas and TCU in Fort Worth.
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]