BATON ROUGE – The LSU Beach Volleyball team fell to No. 8 FSU Friday afternoon at the CCSA Beach Volleyball Tournament and will face FSU again in the semi-final match Saturday morning at 10 AM CT at the LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium.
“It’s so fun to play in this environment,” said head coach Russell Brock. “I’m really glad we did enough today to get to tomorrow. I don’t think we played our best, but it was enough to get a big win and to advance in the bracket. I know we have a lot more in us, and that excites me to play again tomorrow. When we’re playing well, we match up great with the other two teams who are left in the bracket. The task is to recover to get rested and then to find a way to be a little better in the big moments tomorrow. When we do that, I love our chances.”
The Sandy Tigs were set to face FSU in round one of the CCSA Championship Tournament and fell to the Seminoles, 3-1. Aubrey O’Gorman and Camryn Chatellier fell on Court 2; 18-21, 21-17, and 8-15, while Tatum Finlason and Kate Baker fell on Court 4; 23-21, 16-21, and 15-17, to give FSU a 2-0 lead in the dual. Emily Meyer and Skylar Martin won Court 5 to give LSU their only point of the match; 24-22 and 21-15. Elle Evers and Julia Sprecher fell on Court 3 to finish off the match; 16-21 and 17-21. Since all matches are played to decision, Gabi Bailey and Parker Bracken were not able to finish their match on Court 1.
After a short break, LSU faced South Carolina in an elimination game and came out on top, 3-1, to advance to the CCSA Championships Semi-Final match on Saturday, April 26th. Finalson and Baker got things started for the Tigers, winning Court 4; 21-15 and 21-12, while O’Gorman and Chatellier fell on Court 2; 18-21 and 14-21, to have the match even at one point apiece going into the second wave of the duel. Meyer and Martin claimed point number two, winning Court 5; 21-19 and 21-19. The win on Court 5 claimed Martin’s 50th win as a Sandy Tig. Evers and Sprecher clinched the match, winning Court 3; 21-12, 19-21 and 17-15. Bailey and Bracken did not finish their match on Court 1.
FSU 3, LSU 1
- Audrey Koenig/Alexis Durish (FSU) vs. Gabi Bailey/Parker Bracken (LSU) no result
- Gella Andrew/Maddie Trusty (FSU) def. Aubrey O’Gorman/Camryn Chatellier (LSU) 21-18, 17-21, 15-8
- Bailey Higgins/Carra Sassack (FSU) def. Elle Evers/Julia Sprecher (LSU) 21-16, 21-17
- Makenna Wolfe/Myriah Massey (FSU) def. Tatum Finlason/Kate Baker (LSU) 21-23, 21-16, 17-15
- Emily Meyer/Skylar Martin (LSU) def. Jordan Boulware/Kenzie Hultquist (FSU) 24-22, 21-15
LSU 3, South Carolina 1
- Jolie Cranford/Julia Waugh (SC) vs. Gabi Bailey/Parker Bracken (LSU) no result
- Rachel Hartmann/Riley Whitesides (SC) def. Aubrey O’Gorman/Camryn Chatellier (LSU) 21-18, 21-14
- Elle Evers/Julia Sprecher (LSU) def. Morgan Downs/Evie Ziffer (SC) 21-12, 19-21, 17-15
- Tatum Finlason/Kate Baker (LSU) def. Sadie Nelson/Julianna Quintero (SC) 21-15, 21-12
- Emily Meyer/Skylar Martin (LSU) def. Lauren Lawson/VB Trost (SC) 21-19, 21-19