LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory said at the beginning of the season her team was going to be fast, explosive and play at a high level above the net.Flory said the Tigers didn’t live up to those expectations during Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Kentucky.”I was pretty angry on Sunday because I felt like we didn’t do everything we could to create success on our side of the net,” Flory said. “We played slow and sluggishly.”Senior outside hitter Kyna Washington said the team was disappointed with its performance.”It was more of us beating ourselves,” Washington said. “We were not quick between contacts. We need to improve on quickness and contact.”So Flory and her coaching staff have made a change.”We’ve changed our pace,” Flory said. “Everyone came in and watched video individually with me. I pointed out every single thing they did wrong. They got a pretty harsh critique on their effort level and their play on Sunday.”Flory felt the Tigers were lulled into a style of play not suitable for the team’s success.”We were satisfied, and we thought we were playing well,” Flory said. “But we weren’t. We didn’t have a true grasp of how much more capable we were of playing at a higher level.”Flory has also put a strong emphasis on the team’s serving this year. While the team is averaging one fewer service error per game than it did last season, Flory was upset with the way the team served against the Wildcats.”We did a better job of not missing serves,” she said. “But our intensity and our aggression of serving was not where it needed to be.”Flory hopes the Tigers’ changed pace will benefit the team going into its third weekend of Southeastern Conference play this weekend.The Tigers (6-5, 1-3) will face their first SEC West opponents this weekend, beginning Friday night at 7 p.m. in the PMAC against Ole Miss (6-6, 2-1).”Ole Miss is a very solid team that gave Florida a run for their money last weekend,” Flory said. “They are who we battle with in the West. They are going to be very well prepared. We are going to have to be more concerned about us than we are about them because we need to get back into our level of play.”The Tigers will then host Arkansas (4-9, 1-2) on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The match will be televised live on Cox Sports Television.Washington said the team needs to get a pair of wins this weekend at home.”Every match is very important from here on out,” Washington said.The Tigers are currently in fifth place in the SEC West.- – – -Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]