BATON ROUGE ? Head coach Fran Flory met with the media Tuesday to preview the week ahead for the No. 17 LSU volleyball team.
LSU (22-5, 16-2 SEC), winners of 15 of its last 16 matches, returns home to conclude the SEC schedule this weekend at the Maravich Center. The Tigers face Mississippi State on Friday before squaring off Sunday with Alabama.
LSU also moved up to No. 10 in the latest edition of the RPI and continue to be prominent in the national rankings. The Tigers are among the NCAA Top 50 in four different categories, including 2.76 blocks per set [No. 14], a .261 team hitting percentage [No. 23] and 12.89 assists per set [No. 30].
Brittnee Cooper has connected for a .388 hitting percentage and tallied 1.31 blocks per set. She paces the SEC in both categories, while ranking No. 15 and No. 24 nationally, respectively. Sam Dabbs‘ 11.05 assists per frame is 29th in the nation.
Friday’s match against Mississippi State gets underway at 7 p.m. with live video and live stats available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. Fans also can follow in-match updates of the five-time defending SEC Western Division champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.
Tickets are now on-sale at www.LSUSports.net/tickets, the official Web site of LSU Athletics. Tickets also can be purchased at the ticket office on the first floor of the Athletics Administration Building or by calling (225) 578-2184. LSU students, faculty and staff are admitted free with a valid LSU ID.
LSU volleyball is offering the Friends and Family Pass where fans receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for only $20.
VOLLEYBALL PRESS CONFERENCE AT WALK ON’S
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
HEAD COACH FRAN FLORY
Opening statement…
“We are coming off a great weekend. We just got back from Florida, and for the first time since 1990 we beat the Gators on their home court. It’s a huge win. Everybody says, ?Well, what does it mean?’ It’s one of 20 [SEC matches]. Again, I said that the last time we beat them. It’s a good step for our program and a good step confidence-wise for our kids. The South Carolina match on Sunday was honestly a match that I was afraid of from the very start of the season because we don’t play well [at South Carolina]. I thought our kids bounced back and showed great poise.
“I think we’re in a good spot. This is a huge weekend for us. We have to close it out. It’s two SEC matches, Mississippi State on Friday night and Alabama on Sunday. Again, I encourage everybody to come out on Sunday. It’s our senior night, and we have four absolutely wonderful kids, people, and volleyball players who will play their last regular-season match at the Maravich Center. Hopefully the Tiger faithful will come out, support them and our team. If we can get someone to knock off Kentucky, and they have a tough road [ahead], then we will at least share the SEC outright title with them. Kentucky’s fate is in their hands. If they win out, they win and we’re one match out. They have a tough road and hopefully someone will give us a little help. We have to take care of our own matches, though.
“Michele Williams, our sophomore middle blocker, was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week. She had an incredible number of blocks throughout the weekend and has played very well. The fun part for me and my staff is that we’ve had four kids honored with those types of awards, so we’re not a one woman show. We have great balance. It’s a big weekend and hopefully a big finish for us.”
On the possibility of hosting an NCAA Regional…
“We’re going to play at Rice on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. If Rice wins their conference tournament, they’re going to be an NCAA Tournament team. I think that will help us. However, the meat [of we can do on the court] is done. I don’t know that we can help ourselves any further. There’s no significant wins left on our schedule that we can climb the ladder any further. We’re where we’re going to be. The thing that’s most important is somebody within 400 miles has to win and qualify so that we can geographically have an opportunity. Our merit, our body of work through the season probably warrants it. I think we’ll end up being a high enough seed, but it’s going to be a matter of if the geography is in our favor as it was for soccer and we can only be hopeful for that.”
On where they’d end up if they don’t host a regional…
“I think the next possibility is that we may go to Florida State. Florida State is No. 3 in the RPI. That would be the closest place. They’re going to win the ACC most likely. They still have a few matches to go, but they’re playing awfully well. If that doesn’t happen, we could go anywhere in the country. I don’t know how to predict that.”
On the team peaking at the end of the season…
“We’re playing really well. It’s our seniors down to our freshmen. Everybody’s really focused. We did a mock NCAA Tournament through the last three weekends, thinking that potentially we could be at Florida last weekend, which is a Sweet 16/Elite 8 site and a place where we could have a chance to advance to the Final Four. We’ve practiced through the NCAA Tournament. This weekend our mock tournament is our Final Four. Now certainly, we won’t be on our home court if we do have the chance to advance, but our kids have prepared. They’re practicing, they’re ready, and they believe they’re going to have a great shot at the end to do something really special. I’ve stood here [at these media sessions] every single time I’ve been here and said this is a special team and we’re going to end in a special way.”
If this is the best stretch of play she’s seen from any team she’s coached…
“Absolutely. This is the best stretch we’ve had [in recent years]. In the middle of those stretches, we’ve played Florida. We haven’t beaten them on our home court or at their place. This is the first time we’ve beaten them twice in a year in a really long time. This team believes in itself. When you get to December and you still truly believe in yourselves, those are the teams that continue to play deep into December.”