BATON ROUGE – The LSU volleyball team embarked on its 2011 season Tuesday with a pair of workouts inside the auxiliary gym of the Maravich Center. The Tigers practiced for nearly three hours during both the morning and afternoon sessions.
“I really liked our team attitude and our team demeanor on the court,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We have a significant number of underclassmen on our roster this season. We felt the need to throw them right into the fire. I thought our returnees did a wonderful job of setting a strong level of intensity, pace and competitiveness in the gym. We threw them into some difficult situations right off the bat, and I’m proud of how our players handled those high pressure scenarios.”
The six-time SEC Western Division champions have amassed an impressive 140-44 mark en route to a program record six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances dating back to the 2005 season. The Tigers are part of an elite group of 18 programs nationally to accomplish that feat.
A core group of returnees fueled by All-SEC performers Michele Williams and Desiree Elliott give LSU a dynamic 1-2 punch at the middle blocker position. The duo combined to rack up 600 kills which accounted for 39 percent of the squad’s offense last season.
LSU also brings back all three members of its stout back row that garnered a 97 percent serve-receive effort coupled with an impressive 65 percent sideout efficiency during SEC action in 2010. Sam Delahoussaye, Meghan Mannari and Lauren Waclawczyk also fueled the Tigers to 15.98 digs per set, second-highest in the SEC.
Joining the group is a top 20 recruiting class from PrepVolleyball.com which includes Helen Boyle, Marissa Maas, Madi Mahaffey, Malorie Pardo and Brittani Peska. The quintet has positioned LSU to continue its impressive run of success.
“One of our goals for the season is to figure out how to win the battle above the net,” Flory said. “We feel relatively comfortable that we’re going to be a strong ball control team. Another goal early on is to get our new players acclimated into our offensive system, and we’ll run with it from there.”
LSU is slated to practice for 11 consecutive days leading into the annual Purple & Gold Scrimmage set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 20 at the Maravich Center.
2011 LSU Volleyball Preseason Practice Schedule
Wednesday, August 10
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Thursday, August 11
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Friday, August 12
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Saturday, August 13
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Sunday, August 14
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Monday, August 15
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Tuesday, August 16
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Wednesday, August 17
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Thursday, August 18
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Friday, August 19
8:30-11:30 a.m.
3:30-6 p.m.
Saturday, August 20
7 p.m. – Purple & Gold Scrimmage
Sunday, August 21
Off
Monday, August 22
2:30-5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 23
2:30-5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 24
2:30-5:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 25
2:30-5:30 p.m.
Friday, August 26
12 p.m. & 7 p.m. – Tiger Classic
Saturday, August 27
11 a.m. & 7 p.m. – Tiger Classic