BATON ROUGE, La-The LSU beach volleyball team will officially start their season this Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to participate in the FIU Beach Invitational Tournament.
The Lady Tigers come in ranked for the first time in school history, coming in at No. 19 in the DiG Magazine Poll. LSU has received multiple preseason accolades, including CCSA-All Conference honors for Mandi Orellana and Katie Lindelow, as well CCSA Watch List recognition for Cati Leak. The team will return all but one starter from last year’s squad and will also introduce six newcomers, including five freshmen and transfer Roxanne McVey.
“You always feel like (the season) will never get here. Then when it gets here, you wish you could work out some kinks,” said associate head coach Russell Brock. “Our season comes in quick in the spring, but we’re as ready as were going to be. We had a great scrimmage and some really good days of practice to work on some things we saw on Saturday. We’re excited to get out in the sand and play some good competition the first weekend.”
The team will play their first two matches of the season against Jacksonville University at 8 a.m. CT followed by their match against No. 5 Florida International at 11: 30 a.m. CT. The team will wrap up tournament play against New Orleans on Saturday.
Florida International is coming off a 20-3 season last year and enters as the highest ranked CCSA team in the DiG poll. Tina Toghiyani and Aren Cupp are the top returning pair for the Panthers with a 13-1 overall record last season, including 5-0 in pairs competition.
“I think (FIU) does a great job with recruiting great players,” said coach Brock. “They’re really deep and super talented, every one of their teams can compete. When you’re that deep, you’re going to be imposing as an opponent. I think they’re well trained and experienced, and I think the most impressive thing about them is they play with a great level of confidence, and they’re not easily rattled. You have to outplay them and earn your points. To do that in the first weekend, it’ll be a real test of where we are.”
For the latest information on LSU Beach Volleyball, fans can follow the Tigers on Twitter and Instagram @LSUbeachVB and @RussLSUbeach, or on Facebook by liking LSU beach volleyball.