by Kate Doll
LSU Sports Information
LSU volleyball player Kassi Mikulik has had an interesting season. The past two seasons the 5-10 outside hitter played in 201 games and 58 matches. Last season she ranked fourth on the team in kills and third in kills per game. This season, however, Mikulik is not showing up on the stat sheet like she used to because she has taken the quiet role of the libero.
After former libero, Rachel Pittman, graduated last spring, head coach Fran Flory went to Mikulik with the possibility of moving her from outside hitter to libero for the 2005 season.
“The key for the libero position for us is that your first contact-ball control is a serve receive,” Flory said. “From the first day that she walked in to the gym, she was always a very solid serve-receiver. So we knew she was perfect for our system.”
Injuries have also played a role in Mikulik’s unusual switch. Freshman libero, Elena Martinez, has been plagued with injuries since this summer. A full-scholarship player, she just recently was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter Syndrome, a condition where the ligament pulls away from the knee bone causing excruciating pain. This condition has made it extremely painful for Martinez to play at the libero position.
Mikulik’s attitude on her position change has been nothing but positive from the beginning.
“During the spring, we had a meeting and I told her (Flory) whatever I need to do to help the team, pass or be libero,” Mikulik explained. “She said that sounds really good because we might need you as a passer. I started passing and she was like, we will probably put you at libero. That is how it started, and it has been great. I love it.”
Although Mikulik has no experience playing libero or defensive specialist prior to this season, Coach Flory sees a lot of potential in her progress thus far.
“She is the prototype. She is what the international liberos play like. She has the style and is the athlete. She has all of the attributes that would lead her in that position and I think she has really blossomed in to that role this year,” Flory said.
So far this season Mikulik has proven just that, leading the team with 279 digs. Against the Florida Gators this past weekend, Mikulik had 15 digs in three games. Her best match so far, however, was against nationally ranked Texas A&M on Sept. 10, where she led the team with 22 digs in five games.
Despite her success, Mikulik said she still misses hitting at times.
“Oh, you don’t get as much glory like you do when you are an outside hitter, but you still get that feeling like, ?oh I did that’. And I just feel that it is a big part of our defense and offense, the passing,” Mikulik said. “The past two years that I have been here our passing and our defense, it wasn’t bad, but it has started to get a lot better since this season.”
Mikulik also credits her teammates and her coaches for helping her through this season’s transition in to the libero position.
Coach Flory said that it is a tough transition going from being an offensive minded player to a defensive minded player. The way Mikulik has adjusted to the mental mindset of the game and handled suddenly being out of the spotlight has been the most impressive.
“It is tough to not get that recognition. She has done a great job of managing that and just understanding and really and truly being a team-first player. I think that is probably what I am most proud of than anything else,” Coach Flory stated.
Coach Flory believes that the change for Mikulik will be permanent for the team’s best interest. Mikulik is prepared to take which ever role is presented to her.
“I am training for both, so whatever happens, happens,” Mikulik said.
The Tigers return to action at home this weekend as LSU faces off against Auburn this Friday at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Center.