GULF SHORES, Ala. — LSU No. 1 pair Mandi Orellana and Katie Lindelow was the victim of circumstance Saturday as leg cramps prevented Orellana from finishing the play-in match against Pepperdine in the AVCA National Championships, bringing an end to the season for the Tigers sand volleyball team.
“It is disappointing,” said coach Brock. “But I always tell them to leave nothing out there and they gave everything they had physically. It’s a great lesson for us in training and preparation to know that we can do more. I’m not disappointed in what we did or how we played. We wanted to win that set and move into Sunday. It didn’t work out, but an impression was made for LSU sand volleyball in being a legitimate program that can compete against anyone. Our program made a big statement this weekend to the people that were there and that’s exciting.”
To start the day, the Lady Tigers faced ULM and Arizona in the final round of pool play before they advanced to their match against Pepperdine’s Lara Dykstra and Becca Strehlow.
In the first match, Orellana and Lindelow came back from a one set deficit to tally two straight set victories against ULM’s Marcella Araya and Michelle McNamee 18-21, 21-16, 15-6.
“Both teams are pretty evenly matched,” said coach Brock. “It’s coming down to that confidence and desire and fight. I’m extremely pleased with the way we battled back and improved through sets and really pulled away down the stretch.”
Orellana and Lindelow played their second match against Arizona, but the duo were edged in straight sets 21-11, 21-17, by the Witt sisters.
“We’ve seen (Arizona) play a few times, and they were really good,” said coach Brock. “We didn’t play poorly, but they played at a really high level and didn’t give us any room for errors.
The Lady Tigers found themselves tied for third place with ULM and UAB, but advanced to the play-in match for Sunday’s bracket against Pepperdine due to their lead in point differential.
In the play-in match, Orellana and Lindelow faltered in the first set 21-11. The duo responded by grabbing an early 7-1 lead to start the second. Pepperdine wouldn’t go quietly as the Waves rallied to tie the score at 18-18. Orellana struggled with leg cramps throughout and her status for the rest of the match appeared to be in doubt.
“We knew it was coming on and our trainer was working with her during our timeouts, and we were hoping that she could keep it together to pull out the match,” explained coach Brock. “She hit a great shot to go up 19-18, and then her other quad locked up. We already used our medical timeout and couldn’t use an extra. There wasn’t anything left she could do.”
Due to Orellana not being able to continue, Pepperdine advanced to Sunday’s bracket play and the 2015 season officially came to an end for LSU. The team improved their win total by eight games this season, going from 6-10 last year to 14-9 this season. Orellana and Lindelow finished with a combined record of 20-13, including AVCA Championships play. Lindelow was also one of the few all-around sand/indoor players represented in the tournament as the number of sand only players that participated in 86 percent of matches.
“I think realistically, when we got into our situation earlier in the season, I wanted to get Katie and Mandi the opportunity to get here to nationals,” said coach Brock. “It would have been great to have our whole team here, but I wanted to have a strong season and get above .500. I’m really proud of that. Now, we let people know that we can compete at this level. It was definitely part of our plan to get them here to showcase their talents and to show who we are on this stage.”
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AVCA National Championships
May 2, 2015
Day 2
Mandi Orellana/Katie Lindelow def. Marcella Araya and Michelle McNamee (ULM) 18-21, 21-16, 15-6
McKenna Witt/Madison Witt (ARIZ) def. Mandi Orellana/Katie Lindelow, 21-11, 21-17
Lara Dykstra/Becca Strehlow (PEPP) def. Mandi Orellana/Katie Lindelow, 21-11, 19-18 (retired)