LSU will look to brush off whatever frost remains from a chilly winter break and start its season out hot in a doubleheader Sunday at W.T. “Dub” Robinson Stadium.
The No. 66 Lady Tigers play host to Nicholls State at noon followed by Southern University. The events mark the season-opening matches for all three schools.
Coach Julia Sell’s squad has been practicing on campus since the first week of January, giving LSU added time to prepare for the spring slate.
“[Tuesday] was the first day where I felt like they were starting to get sick of practicing and knew it’s time to play,” Sell said.
Perhaps benefiting the most from the early practice start was freshman Joana Vale Costa, who joined the Lady Tigers this spring.
The Lisbon, Portugal native joins three other freshmen for LSU — Skylar Holloway, Gabrielle Otero and Abigail Owens. Separating Costa from the latter is that Sunday will be her debut in the purple and gold.
But Sell noticed another separation about Costa from the moment she recruited her — Costa’s attitude and pride.
“She had a tiger on her phone,” Sell said. “She had it on her Facebook page. She’s almost more prideful of LSU right now than our kids that have been here a while. That says a lot.”
Whatever nerves Costa or the other freshmen feel Sunday will be a constructive thing, Sell said. Playing in front of family and friends is a new pressure Sell said she prefers the Lady Tigers experience on their home court before traveling on the road.
Ending with a 9-16 record last spring, improvement is LSU’s chief goal going into the season. Two of the Lady Tigers’ wins last year came against Nicholls and Southern.
And with a program-best No. 14 recruiting class introduced to Baton Rouge last summer, the greatest problem remaining for Sell is deciding which players get to see the court.
“We have a lot of depth this year and our chemistry is so good,” Sell said. “I told the girls that the hardest thing for me to do this year will be to do the lineup.”
With a potential total of 12 singles and six doubles matches being played on Sunday, Sell and her coaching staff are able to evaluate different doubles pairs and give other Lady Tigers playing opportunities.
“I love it, the girls love it,” Sell said. “They’re going to get two good matches in right off the bat.”