ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – LSU’s sixth-ranked beach volleyball team returns to action this weekend with four matches at the UNF Beach Invitational.
LSU brings a 3-1 overall into this weekend’s tournament as the Tigers posted a pair of wins over Top-15 teams in last week’s season-opening tournament hosted by Grand Canyon University. Dating back to last year, LSU has won 27 of its last 29 regular-season matches.
Tournament play begins on Saturday when the Tigers face 13th-ranked Georgia State (2-2) at 10:30 a.m. LSU will face host North Florida (3-0) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
On Sunday, play begins at 8:30 a.m. when the Tigers face 17th-ranked Florida Atlantic (1-3). LSU rounds out play at the UNF Beach Invitational with a 12:30 p.m. match against UNC Wilmington (0-0).
Last year, LSU went a combined a 6-0 against the four teams it will face this weekend. Overall, LSU is 3-4 all-time against Georgia State, 2-1 vs. North Florida, 3-1 vs. North Atlantic and 1-0 against UNC Wilmington.
“We know that they are all really good teams and anticipate facing their best effort,” LSU coach Russell Brocks said. “We talked a lot about our effort and execution during training this week and I expect that we play with great focus and intensity. I’m excited to see how we respond to this weekend’s tough challenge.”
Tiger Trends:
Last weekend, LSU went 3-1 at the GCU Beach Tournament. The Tigers beat two ranked teams in No. 14 Cal Poly and No. 10 Grand Canyon, both by scores of 3-2. The Court 1 pair of Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss started their season going 4-0 at the GCU Beach Tournament. They won against No. 2 Pepperdine in consecutive sets and the duo was named the AVCA Pair of the Week on Tuesday.
On Court 3, Emmy Allen and Megan Davenport had a successful opening weekend going 3-1. LSU went 2-2 on Court 2 with a combination of Haleigh Nelson, Mandi Orellana and Hunter Domanski. Olivia Powers and Maddie Ligon split Court 3 going 2-2 as did Emily Hardest and Gina Tillis on Court 5.
Social:
For the latest information on LSU’s beach volleyball team, fans can follow the Tigers on Twitter and Instagram @LSUbeachVB and @RussLSUbeach, or on Facebook by liking LSU Beach Volleyball.