BATON ROUGE, La.- The No. 10 LSU beach volleyball team (1-2) returns to action this weekend, traveling to Los Angeles to compete at the East vs. West tournament at the Manhattan Beach Pier.
LSU will square off against three top-10 teams in the tournament, including No. 1 USC, No. 4 UCLA and No. 6 Long Beach State, marking the fifth time in seven matches the team will face a ranked opponent with three ranked in the top-four.
The Lady Tigers will take on UCLA and USC on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. CT respectively, wrapping up the weekend by taking on Cal Poly and Long Beach State on Sunday.
“This is where we want to compete. We know that we’re going to grow as the season progresses. To have a real concrete idea of where we are going into their turf and playing on the West Coast and on the beach is an incredible opportunity,” said head coach Russell Brock.
“To play on Manhattan Beach, which is an iconic location where the history of the sport has been shaped, is a big deal and a big step for our program.”
No. 5 pair Cati Leak and Maddie Ligon return to the courts after going undefeated last weekend at the Stetson Invitational. The duo went 3-0, picking up wins against No. 2 Florida State and No. 9 Stetson.
Freshman duo Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss look to pick up where they left off after garnering two victories against Florida Atlantic and No. 9 Stetson in their first collegiate matches. Sophomore Megan Davenport has also won 13 of her last 14 matches after securing two more victories in exhibition matches at the Invitational.
Seniors Callan Molle and Riley Young also notched two wins in exhibition matches. The two partnered to knock off No. 2 Florida State. Young collected a win against Florida Atlantic, and Molle earned another victory against No. 9 Stetson.
“We’re not going in there to observe; we’re going in there to compete,” added Brock.
“Our language all week has been to find a way to get better and push to continue to improve. Our goal is to solidify ourselves as a deserving member at the top of the top-10.”