BATON ROUGE, La.- After losing three of its last four matches, the LSU beach volleyball team (4-3) looks to rebound this weekend in the Pelican Classic at the White Sands Volleyball Courts in Metairie, Louisiana. The Lady Tigers will face off against Tulane on Friday afternoon followed by a match against UNO.
In all three losses, LSU came within one point of winning its matches with 11 of 15 pair matches going to three sets.
“A lot of it is reemphasizing our system,” explained associate head coach Russell Brock. “At this point in the year, (giving up) two points can lose you a set, especially with the competition like last weekend…We really want to emphasize things we’re doing correctly and fine-tune those few instances when there’s just a tiny lapse that can be a difference in tight matches…That will just help us be more efficient and get us on and off the court in matches that we should win, and it’ll help us win matches that will be a toss-up in tough competition.”
The No.1 pairs matches on Friday will be televised on CST with Lyn Rollins on the call. It marks the first time in program history that a regular season beach match will be televised.
“It’s super exciting,” said Brock. “A big part of our goal is to get this sport out there and in front of people. That’s why we try and get people to come to matches. Now, we got it on TV and that just opens it up to a bigger audience. We want to put a great product out there, and we want to be excellent when we have that opportunity.
No. 1 pair Katie Lindelow and Ashley Allmer enter the weekend with a 4-3 record with a big win against No. 10 Georgia State in the Tiger Beach Challenge last weekend.
Helen Boyle and Lilly Kessler are 6-1 at the two and undefeated in CCSA conference matches with a 3-1 record against ranked opponents. No. 4 duo Mandi Orellana and Cheyenne Wood also bring in a 5-2 record into the tournament.
The Lady Tigers will play Tulane in the opening match of the Pelican Classic at 1 p.m. CT.
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