Defense But No Offense
Consistency has been a problem for the LSU volleyball team throughout the 2016-17 season, coach Fran Flory said. With it, the Tigers second-to-last in the 13-team Southeastern Conference rankings at No. 12.
Flory said the defense was nonexistent on Oct. 28 when LSU (7-15, 2-9 SEC) played against the SEC opponent South Carolina . we(15-7, 3-7 SEC) LSU lost 3-1 with 53 kills, 17 errors, 48 digs and 49 assists.
“We might have a defensive output that’s good enough to win a match, but our offense disappears,” Flory said. “And our offense may be good enough, but then our defense disappears. We just can’t get them together on the same night at the same time.”
Freshman outside hitter Sydney Mukes said the team struggled with finishing a match and playing as one team, with consistency as the top priority. But, ultimately, the team has some advantages too.
“We have grown drastically from the start of season,” Mukes said. “Our blocking has gotten a lot better, our communication with each other — such as making a presence and making ourselves known when we’re playing with each other — has gotten a lot better as well, but we still have a lot to work on for sure.”
‘Be a Leader’
The LSU volleyball team’s five upperclassmen must be examples for the 10 underclassmen who have a lot more learning to do, Flory said.
The emphasis is on getting the upperclassmen refocused on technique and necessities so all other players can follow suit, she said.
“We lack leadership, we lack experience — which we knew,” Flory said. “This was going to be a rebuilding year anyway, losing the seniors that had started. We had three seniors that started for four years for us prior to that. We knew this was going to be a challenge.
“I don’t think our upperclassmen have led very well in terms of our system and our techniques,” she added. “I think that’s leading to the inconsistency.”
Two of the upperclassmen, junior middle blocker Khourtni Fears and junior defensive specialist Cheyenne Wood, lead the squad in blocks and digs, respectively. Nonetheless, Fears places 10th in the SEC with 1.02 blocks per set, and Wood places fifth with an average of 3.94 digs per set.
“Underclassmen don’t really know what are the standards, what does this look like?” senior middle blocker Tiara Gibson said. “If they’re not seeing upperclassmen doing those things, then they’re not going to know what to replicate.”
Confidence, Discipline Key
With a developing team, the Tigers hope to gain the confidence and discipline to defeat Ole Miss when they play at 7 p.m. on Friday in the PMAC.
Gibson said discipline will help execution.
“Some of the mistakes we make are mental errors based on not staying disciplined,” Gibson said. “We have the capability to hit great shots, to set great balls, pass to the target, serve the zone. It’s just whether we’re going to stay disciplined and execute or if we’re going to let our nerves and anxiety overtake us.”
The squad needs to gain confidence and momentum, Mukes said, so the team can then “play loose” and give 100 percent every play in every set for every match.
“[The biggest thing] is confidence in knowing that you can do your job,” Mukes said. “Every single girl on this team is a great player and has such great potential. We all need to believe that.”