BATON ROUGE — LSU volleyball head coach Fran Flory addressed the media at Walk-on’s Bistreaux on Tuesday at Volleyball/Soccer Media Day. Read the transcript here.
Comments from volleyball head coach Fran Flory from LSU Volleyball/Soccer Media Day
Opening Statement…
“Certainly the LSU fans love winners and we hope we can bring that to the community this year. We are really, really excited about this season. It is a huge turning point, and certainly we can revisit last year a little bit in saying we were one of the last teams out of the NCAA Tournament. It was a huge disappointment, but a great growth point for us and a great level for us to mature past. The preparation that this team put in throughout the summer and throughout last spring in forming our team is amazing. The staff and I keep looking at each other going, ‘Do you realize how good we could be?’ We have some great freshmen who have joined the program too. And we’re not blowing up expectations. These are the expectations that our players have — to be at the top of the SEC in the end, to be in the SEC Championship match and to have a chance at that point to win the SEC title and earn that automatic bid without having to be an at-large participant. We want to be the one. We also feel very confident about our chances to be in the NCAA Tournament with the schedule that we have. The unfortunate part for our seniors is that we are not playing at home until we open SEC play on Sept. 23, but we are really excited and have been visiting the PMAC and looking at the renovations there. If you haven’t gone in, don’t go yet. Let them finish because it’s beautiful and the end will be even better than we’ve seen so far. It’s definitely going to be something that’s a great addition to our program and will be a great recruiting tool for us in the future.”
On this year’s seniors…
“In terms of personnel for this year’s team, we have two seniors in Ivana Kuzmic and Jelena Mijatovic. They’re both from other countries and transferred in last year – this is their second year here. They have definitely already left their mark on the program, and their senior years will be even better. They did a tremendous job of preparing. Jelena, after talking to our strength coaches, is probably one of the most prepared athletes at LSU, period, not just in the volleyball program. She didn’t miss a workout from May until when she started practicing. She’s very focused. That’s the type of preparation that this team has committed to, and she’s not the only one. She’s probably done a little better than the rest and that shows in the gym. She’s done her job and is going to have a great senior year. Ivana was in a study abroad program in Italy because she was chosen by the department as one of the top art students to go over there. It was a fabulous experience for her and she will probably get the opportunity to go to grad school in Italy after this. I couldn’t ask for a better person and a better player. She’s recovering from a back injury that hampered her last year, but we think and hope we have it solved. She will have a tremendous senior campaign.”
On other returning players…
“The rest of the team is very ready as well. Lauren Leaumont is back to her freshman year form, and we’re excited about what she brings to the court. Melody Clark is just a stabilizing force for us in the middle. Vanessa Freeman is such a physical talent. She’s amazing and oohs and aahs us all the time at practice. I don’t know that we’ve had a player at LSU who can hit the ball as hard as she can. It’s amazing and I would encourage the community of Baton Rouge to come out and see that. It’s fun. I don’t like to stand on the other side of the net from her. It’s a little scary at times and I don’t feel that about a lot of people. I’ve been around a lot of players and none have scared me like she does so I hope she does that to our opponents.”
On the setting position…
“Our setting position is a little up in the air right now. Daniela Romero has a leg problem that she’s recovering from. We hope to have her back by the third week of the season. She’s not going to be available prior to that but our freshman setter, who was a redshirt and was here last year–Heather Fierce, is going to carry the load. She’s done a great job coming in. She’s very prepared and certainly will step up to the challenge. She’s a fighter and an overachiever, and she will lead us for the first couple of weeks and we can see what happens from there.”
On the new additions to the team…
“We’ve added some freshmen. Kyna Washington from Houston is one of the most heralded players for us to recruit in the time that I’ve been here. She was just this summer named the Outstanding Attacker of the High Performance Tournament, which is a national tournament for the most outstanding players of the country. She is a great offensive threat. It could take her a little time to transition into the collegiate game, but she will be a force. We have one player from overseas who is not here yet but will arrive tomorrow. She had some problems getting here, but she is going to be good. She played on the youth national team in her country and will be a great player for us as well. We’re excited to get her. Lauren DeGirolamo is a freshman from Illinois. She will be a back-up in the middle. She’s a tremendous athlete. Again, it might take her a little time to transition. As far as local talent, we brought in Elena Martinez from Newman as a libero. She’s one of the best in the country and was very highly recruited. We had some huge battles with some top-10 programs over her, and she is going to have a huge impact. She just plays the position the way it’s supposed to be played.”
On the upcoming schedule…
“Our schedule lends us the opportunity to be successful and be in the NCAA Tournament. We start at Georgia Southern. We have nine practices left, and we need to be ready. We’re close. We’re at Georgia State following that and we play UT-San Antonio following that on the third week of our season. That’s a huge tournament and the first opportunity for us to really match up against ranked opponents and opponents that are probably going to have the chance to win their conferences and win bigger conferences. Texas A&M, Rice and UT-San Antonio will all be at that tournament. The Final Four is in San Antonio and that is a prelim tournament they will be having there. Then we come back to the Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans. After that we finally have the chance to play at home, so we’ll look forward to seeing you guys at that match. We’re really excited about where we’re headed.”