The LSU football team’s scheduled homecoming game this weekend was postponed, but another LSU team will be having a homecoming of its own. The volleyball team will play its first home match of the season tonight at 7 p.m. against Tennessee. “We are so happy to be at home for the first time this year,” said LSU coach Fran Flory. The Tigers held a 13-2 home record last season, with the two losses coming against Florida and Tulane. Libero Elena Martinez, one of two seniors on the team, said she is excited to finally begin her final season in the PMAC.”It’s kind of like the beginning of the end. It’s bittersweet,” Martinez said. “But at the same time the team is really looking forward to being at home.” Freshman libero Lauren Waclawczyk said it’s been tough being on the road for so long.The Tigers (5-4, 0-2) opened their season on the road Aug. 29 and have been away every weekend since, including a 10-day road trip when Hurricane Gustav forced the Tigers to sleep in a three-bedroom house in Tennessee with 20 people. “We are seeing a little wear and tear from all the time we were on the road,” Flory said. Flory said the team has to overcome these challenges to succeed this season. “The right things have to fall in place in order for your season to be successful,” Flory said. “Our team is a little frustrated because things aren’t falling in place for us. Things are standing in our way, so they have got to fight through the adversity and find out how to be successful.” The Tigers come home off a pair of weekend losses at South Carolina and Florida — the two top teams in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division. “We just didn’t step up to the challenge this past weekend,” Flory said. Martinez said the team is now “focused, passionate and hungry for the game again.” “We would all agree that this weekend for us was an unacceptable performance,” she said. “We were all disappointed in ourselves. We knew we didn’t play up to our potential. It’s driving us to get better.” The team’s two matches this weekend will be just as challenging as last weekend’s, Flory said. The Tigers’ first home match against Tennessee will put two of the best liberos in the SEC against one another. Martinez, who Flory said is having an “outstanding, All-American” season, will lead the Tigers’ defense against Tennessee’s junior libero Chloe Goldman, the two-time defending SEC Defensive Player of the Week. Tennessee (7-4, 2-0) is coming off weekend home victories against Mississippi State and Alabama. The Tigers will then face Kentucky on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the PMAC. Kentucky is also coming off a pair of weekend victories against Alabama and Mississippi State and holds an eight-match winning streak. The Wildcats (11-2, 2-0) also have a star of their own in SEC Offensive Player of the Week sophomore hitter Sarah Mendoza. Flory said blocking will be a major factor in the match against Kentucky.”The only true thing that our team loves to celebrate is blocking,” Flory said. “Blocking makes us go, and it always has. Our blocking scheme is going to be vital against Kentucky.”Flory said these matches are “vital” to both the Tigers’ standings in the SEC and to the team’s mental state because of last weekend’s losses.”Great teams overcome great challenges,” she said. “I think this team will do that.”—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]