BATON ROUGE – The No. 7 seed LSU beach volleyball team is gearing up to hit the road to Gulf Shores, Alabama on Wednesday afternoon, as the Tigers have their eyes set on the NCAA Championship.
“We train all year long for this opportunity,” said coach Russell Brock. “There’s no way we won’t be ready to bring our very best this weekend.”
This is the second consecutive season that the Tigers have earned a trip to the NCAA Championship. LSU defeated Long Beach State in Gulf Shores last year to notch its first and only victory at the NCAA Championships, so far, but the Tigers are looking to do more this time around.
For the first time, the ESPN family of networks will broadcast to NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships. All the matches will be live on ESPNU or ESPN2 and the championship match on Sunday will air on ESPN. On top of that, the dual on every court will be broadcasted on WatchESPN. For fans traveling to Gulf Shores, tickets are still available.
On Thursday, the Tigers will hold an autograph session at Gulf Place, the location of the championship, from 12:15-12:45 p.m. CT. LSU will open the double elimination tournament against No. 2 Pepperdine at 11 a.m. Friday on ESPNU.
“We are excited and honored to be heading there to compete against the best teams in the country,” added Brock. “I’m proud of how much progress we have made this year and can’t wait to watch us play this weekend. We have very high expectations.”
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