The LSU sand volleyball team will look for its first win as a program this weekend, when it travels to Columbia, S.C., to participate in the Gamecock Invitational. 
LSU (0-1) got its first taste of action Tuesday when it fell to Louisiana-Monroe, three matches to two, in its inaugural event. 
“We are excited to get on the road,” said LSU coach Russell Brock in a news release. “Everything that we are doing for the first time is making us exponentially better. The thing we need most and the one thing that we cannot train during practice is experience. Any time we can have opportunities to add to or experience, we embrace those chances.”
Despite failing to pull off the win in their first contest, it wasn’t a total loss, according to Brock. He said every bit of experience is crucial for the Tigers right now, as they prepare for their upcoming opponents. 
“Now we can say we have a match under our belt,” Brock said. “That will go a long way for the next time. We’ve got film to watch and we know what we need to work on. They’ve seen what other teams can do and take advantage of, and we know what works for us.”
The Tigers will play their first contest of the round-robin event Friday against College of Charleston (0-0) before taking on Oregon (0-0) and South Carolina (2-4) on Saturday and closing out the weekend against Mercer (3-2) on Sunday.
While Brock said he would like LSU to earn its first win, he and the Tigers remain focused on executing what they have been working on in practice. 
“This weekend will be incredibly valuable in our development as a team, a program and as individual players,” Brock said in a news release. “We are better after Tuesday and we will be much better as we move through the weekend.”
The pair of junior Helen Boyle and senior Kaitlin Hatcher lauded the LSU coaching staff Tuesday after their contest with ULM, saying everybody felt comfortable with their pairings in the competition. 
Brock was unavailable to comment on whether the Tigers will use the same pairs or continue to experiment with different duos this weekend. 
“Everything that we are doing for the first time is making us exponentially better. The thing we need most and the one thing that we cannot train during practice is experience.”