BATON ROUGE — The LSU sand volleyball team (6-7) dropped their first match to Florida International, 4-1, but came back to dominate Spring Hill, 5-0, to take three of their four matches this weekend in the Tiger Sand Tournament at Mango’s Beach Volleyball Club.
The three spot pair of Helen Boyle and Cheyenne Wood helped anchor the Tigers as they garnered wins in all of their weekend matches.
“(Cheyenne’s) had really high expectations just coming out from indoor this season, because she’s played a lot of sand (volleyball) and had a lot of training,” said head coach Russell Brock. “We’ve really been preaching to her to be patient and to work specifically on some things that needed reps. Any time a team goes across the net and decides to serve Helen because they can’t stop Cheyenne, she’s made a huge statement about what she can do with the ball.”
The Lady Tigers began the day with their match against Florida International. Riley Young and Emma Hiller took an early 10-4 lead on court five in the first set. FIU cut the lead to 12-11, and the Panthers pulled away to take the first set 17-21. The pair had the second set tied at 15, but failed to win another point to drop the set and give FIU a 1-0 lead.
On court four, Carly Morris and Katarina Raicevic fell in straight sets 16-21, 15-21 to put LSU in a 2-0 hole.
After falling in the first set, Boyle and Wood rebounded to grab the next two sets 21-18, 15-11 to cut the Panthers lead to one.
Cati Leak and Callan Molle grinded out an extended first set 23-21, but the duo were unable to hang on as they fell in the next two sets 13-21, 9-15 to put LSU down 3-1.
Mandi Orellana and Katie Lindelow also took a set lead on court one, but FIU battled back to sweep the second and third sets 17-21 and 10-15 to hand the Tigers a 4-1 loss.
The Lady Tigers came roaring back in their final match against Spring Hill. Young and Hiller fought to go up 11-10 in the first set, and they pulled away to take the win 21-16. The pair took a 10-5 lead in the second and never looked back as they would outscore the Badgers 11-5 down the stretch to tally LSU’s first point.
Raicevic and Morris took command of court four early and won in straight sets 21-5, 21-12 for the Tigers’ second point
The final three pairs took advantage of their two-point cushion and dominated the rest of the sets to finish off Spring Hill.
Boyle and Wood came out on top 21-10, 21-8 on court three, while Leak and Molle took care of business on court two, winning 21-12, 21-8.
Lindelow and Orellana helped cap off the win by taking their first set 21-14. The duo came back stronger in the second to deliver a crushing 21-5 blow to the Badgers, giving LSU the 5-0 win.
“Our goal was to play as hard against them as we did against everyone else, and it was good to come back and focus and pull out the win in very convincing fashion,” said coach Brock.
The tournament will end Sunday with a Pairs Bracket Play beginning at 9 a.m. The top two pairs will play in the Gold Bracket on courts one and two. The three and four pairs will play in the Tiger Bracket on courts four and five, and the five and six pairs will play in the Purple Bracket on courts seven and eight.
The opponents for each pair will be determined on site.
For the latest information on LSU Sand Volleyball, fans can follow the Tigers on Twitter and Instagram @LSUsandVB and @RussLSUsand, or on Facebook by liking LSU sand volleyball.
2015 Tiger Sand Tournament
Match Results – Saturday, March 21
UNO vs. Spring Hill – Spring Hill wins 4-1
1’s – Mallory Raulerson/Megan Haber (Spring Hill) def. Cara Sander/Celeste Ramirez (UNO) (21-18, 21-12)
2’s – Lauren Levy/Brooklyn Frank (UNO) def. Savannah Becnel/Julie Vujnovich (Spring Hill) (21-18, 21-19)
3’s – Amber Perkins/Virginia Hicks (Spring Hill) def. Sophie Gracey/Mikayla Sellers-Wiebe (UNO) (5-21, 21-19, 15-8)
4’s – Andria Dytrych/Hannah Masoner (Spring Hill) def. Camila Lau/Kelsea Hundtoft (UNO) (21-19, 23-21)
5’s – Morgan Murphy/Katelyn Bobinger (Spring Hill) def. Ashley Everett/Courtney Robles (UNO) (14-21, 21-18, 15-9)
LSU vs. FIU – FIU wins 4-1
1’s – Maryna Samoday/Anja Licka (FIU) def. Katie Lindelow/Mandi Orellana (LSU) (13-21, 21-17, 15-10)
2’s – Kristine Monforte/Summer Nash (FIU) def. Cati Leak/Callan Mole (LSU) (21-23, 21-13, 15-9)
3’s – Helen Boyle/Cheyenne Wood (LSU) def. Darija Sataric/Anna Budinska (FIU) (18-21, 21-18, 15-11)
4’s – Marina Boulanger/Tia Toghiyani (FIU) def. Katarina Raicevic/Carly Morris (LSU) (21-16, 21-15)
5’s – Aren Cupp/Savannah Davis (FIU) def. Riley Young/Emma Hiller (LSU) (21-17, 21-15)
UNO vs. UNF – UNF wins 5-0
1’s – Cameron McGuire/Cari Whitmire (UNF) def. Cara Sander/Celeste Ramirez (UNO) (21-19, 21-13)
2’s – Jess Kinlaw/Tessa Alyman (UNF) def. Brooklyn Frank/Lauren Levy (UNO) (21-14, 21-19)
3’s – Tanner Garbutt/Julie Trembley (UNF) def. Mikayla Sellers-Wiebe/Sophie Gracey (UNO) (21-18, 21-16)
4’s – Ambre Desaulnay/Kim Ferguson (UNF) def. Kelsea Hundtoft/Camila Lau (UNO) (21-8, 21-8)
5’s – Emily Davanzo/Ebony Gunn (UNF) def. Ashley Everett/Courtney Roblez (UNO) (21-6, 21-12)
LSU vs. Spring Hill – LSU wins 5-0
1’s – Katie Lindelow/Mandi Orellana (LSU) def. Megan Haber/Mallory Raulerson (Spring Hill) (21-14, 21-5)
2’s – Cati Leak/Callan Molle (LSU) def. Savannah Becnel/Julie Vujnovich (Spring Hill) (21-12, 21-11)
3’s – Helen Boyle/Cheyenne Wood (LSU) def. Virginia Hicks/Amber Perkins (Spring Hill) (21-10, 21-8)
4’s – Katarina Raicevic/Carly Morris (LSU) def. Andria Dytrych/Hannah Masoner (Spring Hill) (21-5, 21-12)
5’s – Riley Young/Emma Hiller (LSU) def. Katelyn Bobinger/ Morgan Murphy (Spring Hill) (21-16, 21-10)
UNF vs. FIU – FIU wins 5-0
1’s – Anja Licka/Maryna Samoday (FIU) def. Cameron McGuire/Cari Whitmire (UNF) (21-15, 21-15)
2’s – Kris Monforte/ Summer Nash (FIU) def. Tessa Alyman/Jess Kinlaw (UNF) (21-14, 21-15)
3’s – Anna Budinska/Darija Sataric (FIU) def. Tanner Garbutt/Julie Trembley (UNF) (23-21, 21-16)
4’s – Marina Boulanger/Tina Toghiyani (FIU) def. Kim Ferguson/Ambre Desaulnay (UNF) (22-24, 23-21, 15-11)
5’s – Savannah Davis/Aren Cupp (FIU) def. Ebony Gunn/Emily Davanzo (21-14, 21-19)