The LSU volleyball team will put its fresh start to the test when Southeastern Conference preseason favorite Tennessee rolls into Baton Rouge on Wednesday.
LSU coach Fran Flory plans to continue the Tigers’ (7-10) fresh start against Tennessee (11-5) after hitting the reset button on the season following a disappointing five-set loss to Georgia last Wednesday.
The Tigers are looking to avenge the two-game sweep they suffered against the eventual conference champion Volunteers last season.
“I remember going to their place and we knew we had it in for us,” said sophomore setter Malorie Pardo. “So this year it’s going to be the other way around.”
The series has been relatively evenly matched in recent history, with Flory earning a 12-9 record against the Vols during her time in Baton Rouge.
Flory described her team’s matchup with Tennessee as “war.”
“We kind of know their tendencies, but the flipside of that is they know ours too,” Flory said. “The match is going to come down to who’s going to execute on the highest level and who can seize that momentum and maintain it.”
LSU knows it faces one of the SEC’s bigger teams in Tennessee, but Flory said she believes her team can match up well against the powerful Tennessee front court.
Tennessee enters the match with 10 of its 18 players standing more than six feet tall, compared to LSU’s six of 14.
“They’re just a big, physical team,” said senior libero Meghan Mannari. “They have really tall girls, and a lot of them are seniors and juniors, so they’re experienced.”
A key focus for the Tigers this week is the serve and pass battle, something Flory said is a necessity for them to control if they want to beat Tennessee.
“We have to serve tougher than in the matches we’ve lost,” Flory said. “We’re winning the passing battle more often, but we aren’t winning the serve.”
The Vols won’t be the only thing the Tigers will have to overcome on Wednesday — they’ll also be battling their nerves as ESPNU will show the game live on national television.
This will be the second time in as many weeks the ESPN trucks will set up outside the PMAC for a volleyball game.
Flory said her team was distracted by the lights and cameras last Wednesday, and it played a part in their loss to Georgia.
“It got to us a little bit with us playing on ESPNU,” Flory said. “We didn’t prepare for that very well and that was my fault. I thought we were going to be OK with it but we weren’t. We’ve got one under our belt now and they have several, so I think that factor will be a wash.”
Who: LSU (7-10) vs. Tennessee (11-5)
When: 7 p.m.
Where: PMAC
Watch or listen at home: ESPNU/91.1 KLSU
