Beach Goes 2-1 On Day One Of The Death Volley Invitational

BATON ROUGE – The No. 11 LSU Beach Volleyball team went 2-1 on Friday with wins over No. 4 USC and No. 9 Long Beach State at the LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium.

The Sandy Tigs will compete in one match to close out the weekend on Saturday, starting at 10:30 AM CT against No. 5 Stanford. The Sandy Tigs are back on the road next weekend to Tallahassee, Florida for the Unconquered Invitational.

“Today is a day that our team grew up a little bit,” said head coach Russell Brock. “You couldn’t have had a longer day of competition and there wasn’t any break in the programs we had to play against today. To play three top teams that the rest of the country assumed were better than us by a pretty significant margin and to come out with two wins and push the match with the number one team in the country to the very edge of victory, I couldn’t be prouder of this group. Obviously, we still have another match to play tomorrow against another really good team, so there’s still work left to do, but I can’t wait to see how we respond to another matchup against one of the top teams in the country. This team is special. I love working with them.”

LSU started out the day with a 3-2 reverse sweep win against No. 4 USC. Aubrey O’Gorman and Julia Sprecher lost Court 2; 8-21 and 17-21, while Elle Evers and Camryn Chatellier fell on Court 3; 14-21 and 17-21, to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead. The Tigers went to three sets on Courts 1, 4, and 5 to grab the win from USC. Emily Meyer and Skylar Martin got the first point on the board for LSU, winning Court 5; 18-21, 21-15, 15-13. Gabi Bailey and Parker Bracken evened up the match, winning Court 1; 21-16, 18-21, and 15-13. Tatum Finlason and Kate Baker clinched the match for the Tigers winning Court 4 in extra points; 21-19, 27-29, and 21-19.

After a break, the Sandy Tigs faced No. 1 UCLA and fell short, 3-2. Meyer and Baker fell on Court 5; 16-21 and 20-22, while O’Gorman and Sprecher lost on Court 2; 18-21 and 13-21, to give UCLA a 2-0 lead in the dual. Evers and Chatellier lost on Court 3; 17-21 and 19-21, to give the Bruins the win. Though the Tigers had lost the duel, the game was played to completion. Finlason and Baker put up the first point for LSU winning Court 4; 21-19 and 21-19. Bailey and Bracken went into extra points on Court 1 to give the Sandy Tigs dual point number two to finish out the match; 21-18 and 34-32.

After a rain delay, LSU finished off the day with another AVCA Top 10 win against No. 9 Long Beach State. Bailey and Bracken gave LBSU their only point of the match, falling on Court 1; 21-23 and 16-21. Finlason and Baker evened up the match, winning Court 4; 21-12 and 21-19. Meyer and Martin won Court 5 in three sets to take a 2-1 lead in the duel; 10-21, 21-16, and 15-11. Evers and Chatellier clinched the match for the Sandy Tigs, winning Court 3; 17-21, 21-19, and 17-15.

LSU 3, USC 2

1. Gabi Bailey/Parker Bracken (LSU) def. Maddy White/Zoey Henson (USC) 21-16, 18-21, 15-13
2. Kennedy Coakley/Ashley Pater (USC) def. Julia Sprecher/Audrey O’Gorman (LSU) 21-8, 21-17
3. Delaney Karl/Ella Larkin (USC) def. Elle Evers/Camryn Chatellier (LSU) 21-14, 21-17
4. Tatum Finlason/Kate Baker (LSU) def. Maya Gessner/Jess Horwath (USC) 21-19, 27-29, 21-19
5. Emily Meyer/Skylar Martin (LSU) def. Madison Groellner/Kaileigh Trustlow (USC) 18-21, 21-15, 15-13

UCLA 3, LSU 2

1. Gabi Bailey/Parker Bracken (LSU) def. Maggie Boyd/Sally Perez (UCLA) 21-18, 34-32
2. Peri Brennan/Natalie Myszkowski (UCLA) def. Aubrey O’Gorman/Julia Sprecher (LSU) 21-17, 21-13
3. Ensley Alden/Kenzie Bower (UCLA) def. Elle Evers/Camryn Chatellier (LSU) 21-17, 21-19
4. Tatum Finlason/Kate Baker (LSU) def. Alexa Fernandez/Kaley Mathews (UCLA) 21-19, 21-19
5. Harper Cooper/Jessie Smith (UCLA) def. Emily Meyer/Skylar Martin (LSU) 21-16, 22-20

LSU 3, LBSU 1

1. Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) def. Gabi Bailey/Parker Bracken (LSU) 23-21, 21-16
2. Aubrey O’Gorman/Julia Sprecher (LSU) vs. Haley Carrington/Julia Westey (LBSU) 21-13, 25-27 GAME UNFINISHED
3. Camryn Chatellier/Elle Evers (LSU) def. Natalie Glenn/Savannah Standage (LBSU) 17-21, 21-19, 17-15
4. Kate Baker/Tatum Finlason (LSU) def. Mahala Esser/Tineke Hinton (LBSU) 21-12, 21-19
5. Skylar Martin/Emily Meyer (LSU) def. Demi Magdy/Megan Widener (LBSU) 10-21, 21-16, 15-11