The day has finally come.
LSU sand volleyball will make its competitive debut today when it takes on Louisiana-Monroe at 4 p.m. at Mango’s Beach Volleyball Club.
The contest allows the Tigers to kick off their first season in program history before they travel to Columbia, S.C., for a tournament this weekend.
“It feels like it’s been a long time coming, but it’s also been really fast,” said LSU coach Russell Brock. “It kind of sneaks up on you and all of a sudden it’s here.”
The Warhawks (0-4) travel to Baton Rouge looking to bounce back from four straight losses they suffered at a tournament in St. Augustine Beach, Fla., earlier this month.
But the Tigers are more concerned about the Warhawks’ experience than their recent performances.
ULM has a full year of collegiate sand volleyball under its belt, which gives it an advantage LSU simply cannot replicate.
In their first season, the Warhawks finished with a 7-6 overall record and competed as one of six programs in the inaugural American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships.
“They’re an established team that has some good experience and we expect them to come in and try to beat us,” Brock said. “We’re going to try to counteract that and beat them.”
LSU plans to use the Warhawks’ experience to its advantage, using the inaugural competition as a watermark.
Brock said LSU’s strategy for many of the early contests this season will be similar because measuring expectations is nearly impossible with so little knowledge about its own team, let alone his opponents.
“We always expect to win, but I’m also realistic,” Brock said. “This is the first time we’ve been out on the court, and I don’t know exactly how everybody’s going to respond to that. … The defining process will happen over the next few weeks. Then we’ll be able to put down some more concrete expectations.”
Brock only has a few demands of the Tigers in their first competition: work hard, execute what they’ve been training for in practice and have fun.
LSU sophomore Emily Ehrle said none of these requests should pose much of a challenge for the young Tiger squad, especially the last one.
“Tomorrow, we really don’t know what to expect since it’s our first time,” Ehrle said. “We’re out here to win, but ultimately, since it’s a casual sport and more care free, we’re out here to have fun, have a good time and enjoy what we’re doing.”
”The defining process will happen over the next few weeks. Then we’ll be able to put down some more concrete expectations.”
The LSU sand volleyball team scrimmages Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at Mango's Outdoor Volleyball.
