BATON ROUGE ? The LSU volleyball team played host to its annual Purple & Gold scrimmage Saturday at the Maravich Center. Prior to the event, the Tigers welcomed 45 children onto the floor as part of a Kid’s Clinic.
“This event was a wonderful start to our season,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We appreciate the kids and their families for taking time to spend a part of their weekend with us. The cheerleaders did an excellent job and the atmosphere is on the verge of being something special.”
The Tigers mixed and matched their teams during the three sets of the scrimmage. Brittnee Cooper led the way with 13 kills and added five blocks.
“Brittnee can be a focal point of our offense,” Flory said. “We feel she is the type of player that can be extremely dominant if we get her the ball in the right situations. She got into a blocking rhythm in the last game.”
Angela Bensend smacked nine kills, while Marina Skender and Ally Judkins powered home eight kills apiece. The scrimmage also marked the LSU debuts of Judkins along with Sam Delahoussaye and Madie Jones.
“You wonder what the freshmen are going to do in game situations and I thought all three of them did a great job,” Flory said. “Ally made some big plays and stepped up her level from practice. Sam had an exceptional day. She passed well, made excellent defense plays and served tough. Madie also made solid plays in all facets of the game.”
LSU opens the 2009 season at the Shamrock Invitational. The Tigers square off with No. 5 Stanford, Denver and host Notre Dame next weekend.
“This week in practice the goal is to finalize our starting lineup,” Flory said. “We’re very close to doing that. We have enough athletes that we can mix and match and do some different things throughout the season.”