The LSU beach volleyball team remains undefeated after dominating the sand this past weekend at the Tiger Beach Challenge in Baton Rouge. The No. 6 team finished 5-0, and improved their record 9-0 overall. The Tigers will not see any SEC competition until their road match against South Carolina on March 11.
The Tigers capitalized on their weekend with a Top-10 victory against No. 4 Loyola Marymount. Graduate student Kylie Deberg and freshman Parker Bracken continued their undefeated streak, winning in straight sets for the entire season thus far.
“The Loyola match was a great opportunity to play at a really high level,” head coach Russell Brock said. “We knew they were going to be good and we had to play well. To know that and be able to respond to that is great. Super proud of how the girls played. Overall, super impressed with our performance in that match.”
On Saturday, the team took down Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-1) to start their day. The powerhouse duo of Kelli Greene-Agnew and Grace Seits took to Court 4, winning 21-12 and 21-13. Ellie Shank and Sierra Caffo finished 21-11 and 21-12 with ease on Court 5. The match ended 4-1, with Court 1 taking the sole loss.
During the second game against Texas A&M-Kingsville, the Tigers swept their opponent 5-0. Greene-Agnew and Seits had no intentions of slowing down, winning two straight sets 21-6 and 21-16. The Court 1 pair of Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope and Bella Bauman redeemed themselves from their morning loss, clinching wins from second and third sets after dropping the first. Volleyball star Deberg and her partner Bracken didn’t disappoint either. They won in straight sets, 21-15 and 21-12.
The final match of Saturday pitted the Tigers against Southern Miss. Despite LSU’s fatigue, all five courts were able to win in straight sets. Caffo and Shank dominated their sets on Court 5, 21-12 and 21-13. The day ended with Carlton and Allred completing the sweep for the Purple and Gold, 21-17 and 21-19.
“Good day today,” Brock said. “It was so fun to be back at home with a great crowd. We continued to improve throughout the course of the day. We haven’t played three matches in one day and it was warm today, so I’m extremely pleased with our effort and execution down the stretch.”
On Sunday, No. 6 LSU kicked off the day with a top-10 matchup against No. 4 LMU. The team stepped onto the sand at 10 a.m. for a hair-raising match. Greene-Agnew and Seits maintained the same dynamic from the previous day on Court 4. The pair put LSU on the scoreboard first, winning in straight sets, 21-13 and 21-19. However, Shank and Caffo didn’t have the same luck as yesterday. They won the second set but dropped the first and last sets. Court 1 duo Bauman and Rasnick-Pope were unable to defeat their opponents despite a strong effort (21-14 and 15-12).
However, the Tigers were not ready to quit just yet. Per usual this season, Deberg and Bracken won in straight sets, 21-19 and 21-10. Now tied 2-2, the match came down to the competition on Court 3. Allred and Carlton didn’t succumb to the pressure though. Despite narrowly dropping the first set, 21-18, the duo battled to win the last two sets and clinch the victory for the Tigers (23-21 and 16-14). The Purple and Gold won the match, 3-2.
Even after such a thrilling and vigorous match, LSU was still able to sweep its last rival of the tournament, Stephen F. Austin. All five courts won in straight sets. LSU went 5-0 on the weekend and improved its record to 9-0, setting a new program record for the best start of a season.
“We hoped to come out of the weekend with five wins,” Brock said. “That’s a tough and challenging task, especially when you play the same pairs all weekend. I loved how the girls responded to that.”
The Tigers will head to South Carolina next weekend for the Gamecock Grand Slam. They will begin the tournament on Friday against Mercer and end against their first SEC matchup of the season, No. 18 South Carolina. On Saturday, the team will combat No. 15 Pepperdine and Louisiana-Monroe on the sand.
All of LSU beach volleyball’s matches will be streamed on Varsity Sports Now. Tiger fans can purchase a subscription on their website to gain access.
