LOS ANGELES — The LSU volleyball team held a 90-minute spirited workout Thursday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus.
“The facility is extremely volleyball friendly and I think we’re very comfortable in this gym,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We seemed to be in good rhythm at practice. I think our team has a great mindset and is very prepared to play.”
The Tigers (18-9) are sporting a six-match winning streak and will make its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 14 seed UCLA Friday at 10pm CT. The match also marks LSU’s 10th overall NCAA Tournament appearance, including a return to the 1991 Final Four site where Flory was an assistant coach.
“There’s no doubt that walking back into this building brings back some memories,” Flory said. “We had a great team in 1991 appearing in our second straight Final Four. Hopefully, we’ll do a better job of taking care of business this time around.”
Before practice, Flory surprised the team with a morning trip to Universal Studios. The Tigers had a chance to take a tour of the studios along with ride the roller coasters and take pictures with the park’s characters ranging from Scooby Doo to Shrek.
“As a staff, we understand that this team has to be relaxed and not be over prepared to play,” Flory said. “It was fantastic to see all that Los Angeles has to offer and I think going to Universal Studios helped us attain the right mentality.”
The Tigers are scheduled to have a 60-minute serve-receive practice Friday afternoon before squaring off with the Bruins at 10 p.m. CT. Live stats for the match will be available on LSUSports.net.