BATON ROUGE – LSU Beach Volleyball coach Russell Brock has announced the addition of five transfers – Gabi Bailey, Amaya Messier, Emma Johnson, Emily Meyer and Gracey Campbell – who will join the Tigers for the upcoming season.
Bailey, Johnson Messier come to LSU as grad transfers while Meyer and Campbell come as undergraduate transfers. The Tigers return 11 players from last year’s team that won two matches at the NCAA Championship Tournament. These five transfers join LSU in addition to seven freshmen.
“This is a great group of players, and more importantly impressive people, who we are excited to add to our roster, Brock said. “These student-athlete transfers are the result of a lot of work early in the summer by Cati (Leak) and our staff to round out our 2023-2024 roster. Their experience will be a wonderful addition to our incoming freshmen and our group of returners. We couldn’t be more excited as we prepare to launch into the year with this team!”
Bailey comes to LSU after a great four-year career playing indoor volleyball at the College of Charleston. During her time with the Cougars, Bailey was lethal from the service line and is sixth all-time in program history with 0.34 aces per set and is tied for seventh in program history in single-season aces (44, 2021) and single-season aces per set (0.39, 2021). As a senior last year, Bailey led the team in kills (279), kills per set (2.82) total aces (33) and aces per set (0.33). She also tallies 10 double-doubles during her senior season.
“Gabi is a fantastic athlete with incredible instincts for the game, Brocks said. “After a wonderful indoor career, she made great progress in her initial efforts in the sport of beach volleyball and her ability to flourish as an athletic blocker here in our program is exciting. Her joy and enthusiasm will be a perfect addition to our family.”
Johnson is coming to LSU following a season in which she went 17-8 at Tusculum, playing on Court 1, 2 and 3. During the 2022 season, Johnson was name Team MVP and went 20-13 with matches on Courts 1 and 2. She was 9-7 during her freshman season and comes to LSU with a career record of 46-28.
“We’ve seen Emma across the net for the past few seasons and have always been impressed with her ability to compete against the top talent in the country,” Brock said. “She is a long blocker with extensive experience. As a lifelong LSU fan, it has been a fun process to bring her home. We are looking forward to working with her to continue to bring out the best in her game and we know that her commitment to our program will make us better.”
Messier joins the Tigers with beach volleyball experience at Utah. With the Utes this past season, Messier played on Court 1 and 2 where she won a total of 13 matches. Her victories included wins against Arizona State, Texas and Oregon on Court 1.
“Arriving after blocking on the top courts in the Pac 12 allows Amaya to come in with experience and an understanding of what it takes to play at some of the highest levels in our sport, Brock said. “She’s excited to continue to learn and grow and we are equally as excited to help her. She is focused, intense, hungry and looking forward to being a Tiger.”
Meyer will join the Tigers after multiple successful season at FIU. She compiled a 20-14 record last season and had four wins on Court 5 over pairs from ranked teams. In 2022, Meyer had a 19-14 record and was part of the C-USA All-Academic team.
“After a fantastic career at Mount Carmel, Emily left Louisiana to excel in the classroom, on the court and in the sand down in Florida,” Brock said. “We are now excited to bring her back to Louisiana and help her shine in the Purple and Gold in her home state. We’ve known her since she was a junior player and faced her as she started her college career and now we are excited to work with her to help her grow as a part of our beach family.”
Campbell is coming off a successful freshman campaign at Pepperdine. During her lone season of collegiate beach volleyball, Campbell played in all 33 of Pepperdine’s matches on Court 4 and went 20-13, earning a spot on the WCC All-Freshman team.
“We are delighted to have Gracey join us,” Brock said. “There has always been a great respect for her ability to play the game, but even more for the person she is. We are really looking forward to adding her to our program. She is a relentless defender who works hard on and off the court every single day. She has been successful at the junior and college level, and we know that she is committed to continuing to grow in our system to help us be even more successful.”