LSU Gold

No. 2 Beach Set to Host Purple vs. Gold Scrimmage

by Grant Kauvar | Communications Graduate Assistant
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No. 2 Beach Set to Host Purple vs. Gold Scrimmage

BATON ROUGE – The No. 2 LSU Beach Volleyball team will host its annual Purple vs. Gold Scrimmage on Saturday at LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium one week before it is set to begin the 2020 season.

“To put the jerseys on and to have this event knowing this is one week until the real deal is exciting,” said Russell Brock who is entering his fourth season as the Tigers’ head beach volleyball coach. “We’re looking at this weekend as gearing up for competition.”

The scrimmage will begin at 10 a.m. CT and will consist of four rounds of matches. It will be followed by a kid’s clinic at 1 p.m. All of this will take place at LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium – the premier permanent beach volleyball stadium in the country that is entering its second. 

Gates will open at 9 a.m. and fans are reminded that the Geaux Clear bag policy will be in effect on Saturday. There will be a food truck along with refreshments, including adult beverages.

Admission to all LSU Beach Volleyball matches is free. LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium is located in the heart of campus on Cypress Drive. Fans are encouraged to park in lots 105 and 106 and enter through the west gates of the stadium. 

After challenging each other every day in practice over the past month, the Tigers are looking forward to one last tune up before it’s the real deal and they get to lineup across from colors other than Purple and Gold. 

LSU will begin its season on February 22 in Honolulu, Hawaii at Queen’s Beach where it will face No. 1 UCLA, No. 5 Hawaii and No. 19 in the Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic. The following weekend, February 29-March 1, LSU will host the Tiger Beach Challenge, including a match that Saturday against top-ranked UCLA.

The Tigers enter the 2020 campaign with a lot of promise, finishing 2019 with a run to the NCAA semi-finals and returning much of the talent that helped lead them there. LSU enters the season carrying its highest preseason ranking in program history.

“Obviously we’ve got a lot of talent, but we’re hungry,” said Brock. “We’re not the team that’s going to be resting on that ranking. We want to be better than we are whether that ranking is there or not. I don’t see it changing our mentality or our attitude.”

The talent that is returning includes the two-time defending CCSA Pair of the Year in Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss, two CCSA All-Freshmen Team selections from a year ago in Kelli Agnew and Allison Coens, two CCSA All-Tournament team members in Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope and Toni Rodriguez. Nine players who competed in Gulf Shores at the NCAA Championship return for this year. 

“Our goal every week, every time we step in the sand is to be better than we were the last time we stepped in the sand,” said Brock.

Purple Team:

Jess Schaben

Toni Rodriguez

Olivia Powers

Elizabeth Masters

Grace Seits

Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope

Sydney Moore

Kahlee York

Tatum Ballard

Natalie Martin

Gold Team:

Claire Coppola

Taryn Kloth

Allison Coens

Melia Lindner

Sierra Caffo

Nicole Decker

Kristen Nuss

Kelli Agnew

Hunter Domanski

Lara Boos

Hailey Cabeceiras

Alexis Toney