As if the task of taking on two of the nation’s top 12 teams wasn’t daunting enough, thanks to Hurricane Isaac, the LSU volleyball team’s home opener has been moved to Rice University in Houston.
The Tigers will face off against No. 7 Purdue, No. 12 Washington and unranked Rice a week after losing to No. 2 Texas and No. 19 San Diego in straight sets at the Longhorns Classic.
“We have three tough matches ahead of us, and the challenge before our team is big,” said LSU coach Fran Flory in a news release. “I’m extremely appreciative to our administration who allowed us to evacuate Baton Rouge on Tuesday. Rice has been wonderful in hosting us this week.”
Purdue and Washington have yet to lose a set this season after going a perfect 18-0 through three matches each. LSU went 1-2 in its opening weekend after posting a total of 60 hitting errors over two days.
“I don’t think we understood how many hitting errors we were making last weekend,” Flory said. “As a coaching staff, we had the players trying to do some things that they weren’t real comfortable with. We’re going to have to open up a bit more, hit some different shots and be more creative offensively.”
Flory said she will continue to make adjustments in the lineup leading up to the start of conference play in two weeks.
“We feel like we’re in a good spot and made some great strides in practice this week,” Flory said. “We’ll get to lineup tomorrow and see how it goes.”
The Tigers may lean on senior libero Meghan Mannari and junior middle blocker Desiree Elliott throughout the tournament.
Mannari averaged 4.22 digs per set last weekend and stands 151 digs away from becoming the 12th Tiger to record 1,000 digs in a career.
Elliot earned All-Tournament honors at the Longhorns Classic last weekend after posting a 3.33 kills per set average.
“We feel like we’re in a good spot and made some great strides in practice this week,” Flory said. “We’ll get to line up tomorrow and see how it goes.”
The Tigers face Rice and Washington on Friday and Purdue on Saturday.
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Contact Mike Gegenheimer at [email protected]