Junior libero Lyndi Johnson once sat watching her older sister, Jessica, play volleyball; now the roles have reversed, and her sister is watching her receive national accolades.
Johnson played high school volleyball in Dallas at Flower Mound Marcus High School and was selected to the 2005 North Texas Regional USA High Performance Team. She also made the 2008 Junior Olympics OPEN. She points to her sister as her biggest inspiration on the court.
“When I was younger, my sister played a lot, so I went to watch her games. Some of the younger sisters of her teammates would go too, and we played on the sidelines of their games,” said Johnson. “It got me into the game, and so I began to watch the way she played. She definitely had a big influence on me.”
Watching her sister got Johnson into volleyball at a young age, inspiring her to play at a competitive level in order to sharpen her skill set.
“As I got older, I started to play for more competitive teams. When you play at a higher level, it gets you more involved in the game, and the more I got involved, the more I loved the game. When high school ended, I didn’t want to stop playing,” said Johnson.
The Pioneers recruited Johnson after watching her high school matches. Johnson made an immediate impact as a Pioneer, playing 72 of the team’s sets before injuring her hand her freshman season.
After a slow start this season, the Pioneers have won eight conference matches, good enough for second place in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference. Johnson has been a force on the defensive end, leading the team with 450 digs. She was recently recognized for her performance by the Sun Bet Conference, who awarded her with a Co-Player of the Week award in early October.
“It’s exciting to get awards. At the same time, as a team, I wish were doing better this season,” said Johnson. “This whole season, we’ve been trying to figure things out. There hasn’t been one thing to pinpoint, but multiple. We can either be really good or have some crappy games. It’s kind of been a mix,” Johnson said.
With the conference tournament less than a week away, Johnson has confidence in herself and her teammates for the upcoming matches.
“We need to come out strong and really focus on winning that first match,” said Johnson.
The Pioneers will wrap up their regular season Friday with a home match against North Texas at 6 p.m. The conference tournament will begin on Nov. 17 in Miami.
