With life, comes death. And with death, comes rebirth.
That’s what the LSU volleyball team hopes at least.
The Tigers literally laid the disappointing first half of their season to rest recently during a formal funeral and vowed to look forward in their quest to take an eighth-straight Southeastern Conference Western Division title, the next test of which is their matchups with Auburn and Kentucky this weekend.
“We were in the process of grieving for the fact that we didn’t accomplish what we wanted to in pre-conference,” said LSU coach Fran Flory.
Entering the season with high hopes, everything fell apart quickly. They were demolished by then-No.2 Texas in three sets in a game that was especially important to them.
Hurricane Isaac forced LSU to play its home tournament, the Tiger Classic, in Houston. The Tigers’ loss to North Carolina disappointed them, and they finished the pre-conference schedule with a 4-5 record.
That rut carried over to the SEC schedule, which they started 4-6. A loss to Georgia on national television was the last straw and Flory knew she had to do something to change her teams’ fortunes. She struggled until LSU softball coach Beth Torina suggested she hold a symbolic funeral.
Flory laughed at first but eventually figured it could help the team.
“I need to lead them through the process in a very formal way that lets them know that this is not a joke,” Flory said. “We are truly burying it. It’s over, it’s done, it’s gone, and you’ll never have to deal with it again.”
Instead of holding the scheduled practice the following Friday, Flory simply told her team to wear black and meet in the locker room at a certain time. The girls had no idea what they were in for until they walked into their candlelit team lounge.
“It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” said senior outside hitter Madie Jones.
Flory had her team write down anything it wanted to let go from the first half of the season. She threw the vocations, along with game DVDs and stat sheets, in a box at the front of the room and led her team out behind the softball fields, where they burned the memories away.
The next scene was straight out of a cheesy movie.
“There was like nothing in this field but this thing burning and dead grass everywhere, and this butterfly comes and lands right by us,” Jones said. “Coach said, ‘You know what that means, right? Butterflies symbolize rebirth.’”
They finished out the ceremony by returning to the team lounge and discussing their roles on the teams, receiving corresponding nicknames. Jones became the “Terminator” for her blistering kills, and junior middle blocker Desiree Elliott was named the team’s “Fire” for her spark.
“The symbol of rebirth and starting over, it’s all about managing mentality, and it’s opened some doors for us,” Flory said.
The team is 2-1 since the procession. They’ll look to double that win total this weekend as they travel to Auburn and Kentucky, the latter of whom LSU defeated earlier this season, 3-2.
Jones and senior defensive specialist Meghan Mannari will have more motivation than just the ceremony against Auburn. They played club ball together in high school with two current Auburn players, outside hitters Sarah Bullock, senior, and Katherine Culwell, redshirt junior.
“We’re really excited to get to see them because they’re some of our best friends,” Jones said. “But this game? It’s going down.”
