LSU Gold

Beach Set to Begin Competition at NCAA Championship

by Grant Kauvar
NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship +0
Beach Set to Begin Competition at NCAA Championship

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The time has come for the No. 7 seed LSU beach volleyball team to begin competition at the NCAA Championship at Gulf Place, as the Tigers are set to play No. 2 Pepperdine, Friday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.

LSU is 26-12 this season and has won 19 of its last 22 matches. The Tigers have played Pepperdine three times this season, but are looking to pick up their first win against the Wave in program history.

“Pepperdine is a great program,” said coach Russell Brock. “We’ve played them three times and we know that they’re really good, but we’re more familiar with them and we know what they want to do and how they do it. We know what we have to do to combat that and counter it.”

The winner of LSU-Pepperdine match will square off against the winner of No. 3 Hawaii and No. 6 South Carolina, Friday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The losers of those two matches will face each other at 2 p.m. CT on ESPNU and will still have a chance to earn their way to the championship through the tournament’s double elimination format.

The Tigers are 1-1 against South Carolina this season and defeated the Gamecocks two weeks ago in the CCSA Semifinals, 4-1, to advance to the conference championship for the first time in school history. LSU has played Hawaii once this season and fell to Rainbow Wahine in Los Angeles, 4-1, on March 11.

“It’s our responsibility to play well,” said Brock. “We don’t have to do anything that we’re not capable of. It’s just a matter that we make sure to focus in.”

For the first time ever, ESPN will broadcast the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship. Every match of the tournament will be televised on ESPNU on Friday, ESPN2 on Saturday and Sunday for the semifinals, and on ESPN for the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

In addition to the live telecast, action from all five courts individually will be available to be streamed live on ESPN3, available through WatchESPN. For fans traveling to Gulf Shores, tickets are still available.

This is the second consecutive year that LSU has made the NCAA Beach Championship. Despite recording their first win at the championship in program history last year against Long Beach State, LSU is looking to make more noise in the tournament this year. 

“If we play our best, good things will happen,” said junior Megan Davenport.

 

2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship – Schedule

Gulf Place

Gulf Shores, Alabama

May 4-6, 2018

All Times are Central.

Friday

Match 1: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 8 FIU, 9 a.m., ESPNU

Match 2: No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 5 USC, 10 a.m., ESPNU

Match 3: No. 2 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 LSU, 11 a.m., ESPNU

Match 4: No. 3 Hawai’i vs. No. 6 South Carolina, Noon, ESPNU

Match 5: Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2, 1 p.m., ESPNU

Match 6: Loser Match 3 vs. Loser Match 4, 2 p.m., ESPNU

Match 7: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 3 p.m., ESPNU

Match 8: Winner Match 4 vs. Winner Match 3, 4 p.m., ESPNU

Saturday

Match 9: Loser Match 8 vs. Winner Match 5, 1 p.m., ESPN2

Match 10: Winner Match 6 vs. Loser Match 7, 2 p.m., ESPN2

Match 11: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 3 p.m., ESPN2

Match 12: Winner Match 9 vs Winner Match 10, 4 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday

Match 13: Loser Match 11 vs. Winner Match 12, 10:30 a.m., ESPN2

Championship: Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 13, 1 p.m., ESPN