LSU football coach Les Miles and company aren’t the only staff looking to make improvements this spring.
And despite not making headlines for their offseason work, the LSU volleyball team has been putting in the hours in hopes of defending their Southeastern Conference Western Division crown.
After a disappointing early exit in the NCAA Tournament in December, the Tigers didn’t waste much time getting back to work. Just one month later LSU coach Fran Flory had the team back in the gym running, weight lifting and training.
“We worked real hard and our emphasis was really to improve our defense and our ball control,” Flory said. “Losing the people that we did, especially losing [outside hitter Angela Bensend], we didn’t really have somebody in that spot prepared to step right in. We’ve worked real hard on that and we’ve made good progress.”
The squad began team training two weeks ago, working in the gym for the full NCAA-allotted 20 hours per week before traveling to Richmond, Texas, for the Texas Pride Collegiate Invitational on March 26.
The exhibition tournament gave the Tigers a quality four-match barometer on the early outlook on the team.
“It’s one of the better spring tournaments in terms of caliber of competition and number of teams,” Flory said. “It’s like baseball spring training. It’s truly a proving ground and a training ground for young players, which is something we really need.”
LSU finished the weekend with a 3-1 record, topping Oklahoma, 2-0, Wichita State, 2-1, and Houston, 2-1, while falling to Texas A&M, 0-2.
Flory said one of the toughest challenges of the offseason is finding replacements for the three departing seniors, particularly setter Brittney Johnson.
“[Sophomore] Shelby Pursley is the heir apparent right now,” said Flory, who also mentioned sophomore Victoria Jacobsen as an option. “It’s a hard role to step into, and [Pursley] is a perfectionist … so she’s had a great learning curve but still has a long way to go. Our offense is very complicated, and you can’t just step into it.”
Along with offseason preparations, Flory has received a few accolades of her own.
The 13-year coach was selected as one of three head coaches for the U.S. Women’s National A2 Program, joining Ohio State’s Geoff Carlston and Dayton’s Kelly Sheffield.
“It’s an honor, and I’m really excited about it,” Flory said. “I think it’s going to be fun.”
Flory will travel to Dallas for 10 days from May 23-June 1. Thirty-six athletes will be invited to the program, which includes a training session and competition in the USA Volleyball Open National Championships from May 28-31.
“I think the opportunity to work with those guys and get to know kids on other teams is always fun for me,” Flory said. “To help those kids a little bit to take another step and make them better for their colleges and help them get a little better for the future would be fun. And they’ll help me get better, as well.”
 
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Contact Mark Clements at mclements @lsureveille.com