BATON ROUGE — LSU volleyball head coach Fran Flory previewed the upcoming season during the annual Soccer/Volleyball Media Day at Walk-On’s on Tuesday afternoon.
Flory said the team has come in prepared and confident, ready to build on the success from the last few years.
“We welcomed back a veteran team to the gym a week ago and we’ve been in the gym practicing hard,” she said. “I stood here last year and said we were going to be a special team and I’m going to say it again. We certainly had a special season last year and we will have another one this year. I have no doubt.”
She also focused in on a few of her upperclassmen who will be big contributors for the Tigers this year.
“Elena Martinez, who last year was the defensive player of the year in the conference and gained All-American honors, returns for her senior year and is very prepared,” Flory said. “She worked very hard, played for the USA A-2 National team this summer and had a great experience. And Kyna Washington has been the gun for us. She’s been the go-to player and she will be that again. She has really matured with our offense and has become a great all-around player. I look for her to have some great stats this year and certainly lead the way for our team and our success.”
Flory discussed the challenges her team will face in the early part of the season. They open with a tournament at Creighton also including teams like Texas A&M and Minnesota and travel to Nebraska again for a tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska two weeks later.
“We’ll go back to Nebraska to play the University of Nebraska, the premier spot in the country to play volleyball. They are going to sell out their arena. They’re expecting 13,000 people at our match Friday night in that tournament against Nebraska in a home football weekend and we’re the premier match.”
Below are more of Flory’s comments from Media Day:
On this season…
“We welcomed back a veteran team to the gym a week ago and we’ve been in the gym practicing, and currently still in the gym at this moment. We have a talented group. I stood here last year and said we were going to be a special team and I’m going to say it again. We certainly had a special season last year and we will have another one this year. I have no doubt.”
On the returning players…
“Elena Martinez, who last year was the defensive player of the year in the conference and gained All-American honors returns for her senior year and is very prepared. She worked very hard, played for the USA A-2 National team this summer and had a great experience. She was an outstanding member of that team that won the USA Volleyball Adult National Championship that was held in Atlanta. Brittnee Cooper returns for her junior year and she was also a member of the USA team that won that championship. She is an imposing middle and really arrived on the scene last year. She will be one of, if not the most dominant middle blockers in our conference and maybe the whole country. She has the opportunity if we can keep her healthy. Lauren DeGirolamo, the stabilizing force in our lineup is going to be a six rotation player for us this year, and has never been a six rotation player. We’ve always held her out of ball control and back row, but she’s worked really hard the last two years to have that opportunity and she is showing some tremendous potential in that task as well. You can’t leave out Kyna Washington for her senior year. She has been the gun for us, if you will; the go-to player and she will be that again. She has really matured with our offense and has become a great all-around player. I look for her to have some great stats this year and certainly lead the way for our team and our success.”
On newcomers…
“We have a transfer from the University of Louisville, Sam Dabbs. Samantha Dabbs was an All-American in high school and played for the University of Louisville for the last 2 years. She comes in as a junior and is a highly touted setter. She was a Fab 50 setter out of high school and certainly adds a great deal of depth and leadership at our setting position. Lauren Waclawczyk is a libero defense specialist that joined us and she is going to be the heir apparent to Elena Martinez. She’s probably not going to beat E (Martinez) out this fall for the libero spot, but has put a lot of pressure on her and that’s made Elena better. Michele Williams is the other newcomer. She actually graduated early in December of last year from high school and played with us all spring and trained and lifted and had an opportunity to adjust to the collegiate game. So she’s in this fall not missing a beat and she’s ready to go.”
On surprising players….
“Two surprises and great additions in terms of their progress from last year to this was Brittney Johnson, who did a tremendous job for us last year, but really didn’t understand everything we needed her to understand running an offense. She worked tremendously hard in the weight room and in the gym this past summer and she’s a very welcome surprise in the level she’s brought to the gym. If we named a starting setter today she would be our starting setter. We still have two more weeks of preseason and I don’t know that it will stay that way, but as of today she’s done a great job and prepared and earned the opportunity. The other great addition from last year is Tania Schatow. We moved her to the right side from middle blocker. She was the third middle blocker for us last year and really and truly was the hero in the NCAA match against New Mexico State. She came in after Lauren DeGirolamo injured her foot. Tania has really matured into a great right side and I think she may be one of the best in the conference as well.”
On the team’s emphasis…
“Our offense is fast, furious, and it’s fun. We are very athletic and very fast. Our defense is very solid. The question this year is going to be can we control the ball better than any team in the country? We want to be the best serving and passing team in the country. For the past week that’s pretty much all we’ve done”
On team goals…
“We’re going for our fourth SEC West Championship. That’s not good enough for this team. This team doesn’t want to just be West champions. They want to be SEC Champions at the end of the year. They have the talent and the ability. We have to put the attitude and the ball control together with that and I think we can accomplish that. It’s a pretty big task but certainly there’s an attitude in the gym that we’re going to be successful.”
On the schedule…
“We start at Creighton with a very tough tournament- Minnesota, Texas A&M, and Creighton. Creighton, you would think would be the easiest team to play out of that tournament, probably not. Creighton is going to knock some people off in that tournament. They’re very quick, they’re very dynamic, and they have great ball control. So that’s going to be a dangerous team in that tournament. We open with Texas A&M From what I hear Texas A&M has been shooting for this match all year and that’s they’re motivating match, which is absolutely fine. It’s our motivating match as well because it’s the first match for everyone and we’re going to use that just the same way that they are. We have a great past with them and have had some great battles and I expect that to be a great match. We return home the next weekend and actually play at home the Saturday of a football game, which will be an adventure for our fans and for everybody trying to see the match. But, it’s do-able and we’re hoping a lot of people will be able to come out and watch as they’re tailgating and preparing for the football game. And then we go back to Nebraska. I think our team is going to get tired of flying into Nebraska, but we go back to Nebraska to play the University of Nebraska, the premier spot in the country to play volleyball. They are going to sell out their arena. They’re expecting 13,000 people at our match Friday night in that tournament against Nebraska in a home football weekend and we’re the premier match.
On the success of recruiting…
“When Elena and Kyna came in I said that was the most heralded class we had in my tenure here and they have proven that to be true because of the level the program has elevated along with their play. I think the fact that we’ve been able to recruit kids at a higher level and we’re in the recruiting pool with high level programs makes the difference. Coaches are only as good as the players on the court. And we’ve been able to elevate our recruiting with higher level recruits and better athletes.”
On team’s confidence level following recent success…
“We definitely have a different level of confidence. This team actually believes they are going to win every match they step on the court for. Half of winning is attitude. Realistically we all know that teams don’t go undefeated in NCAA volleyball or any NCAA sport very often at all. But we have confidence, we’ve been there done that, and there’s a different level in the gym, a different attitude and a different approach.”