The beach volleyball team was eliminated from the CCSA tournament last week by the Florida State Seminoles; the team’s performance likely left fans with a feeling of unease entering the NCAA tournament.
Each of LSU’s losses last week came from the eventual CCSA champions Florida State, and they were not particularly close. LSU lost its matches by a combined score of 9-1, with the lone point coming from a forfeit and the team winning a combined two sets.
LSU has not been swept all season, but it nearly suffered a sweep not once but twice last week. LSU did not look like a team that could contend for the national title, with there being at least four teams that are on the same competitive level as Florida State.
The Tigers had good moments in Huntsville, Alabama last week, sweeping Tulane and No. 19 South Carolina to navigate their way into the semifinals.
Flash forward to Wednesday, and their first opponent in Gulf Shores, Alabama for the NCAA tournament, the Cal Bears, sat closer to Florida State’s level, at least in terms of rankings.
The Cal Bears finished three of the last four seasons ranked No. 11 and No. 12. They carried that consistently into this season, earning the No. 11 spot in the NCAA tournament after obtaining the most wins in their program’s history.
The Bears spiked the Tigers with all they could handle, going three of five in their first sets and earning a victory on Court 1 to tie the match early on. However, the Tigers would win four of the second sets, sending two matches to a third set with a 2-1 lead.
All they needed was for one of the two matches to go their way.
The match unfolding on Court 2 could have decided it all, as LSU’s Kelli Greene-Agnew and Kylie Deberg managed to even the score at 13 as they reached the match’s conclusion. Cal’s Ashley Delgado and Ainsley Rodell would respond with two impressive points, getting the Tigers out of position to secure the victory 21-17, 15-21 and 15-13, giving their team added minutes of survival.
However, when focus shifted to Court 5, it seemed those minutes would be spare. After two close sets, including one that went to extra points, the third one turned out surprisingly lopsided.
LSU’s Ashlyn Pope and Sierra Caffo brought intensity, narrowly missing out on a double-digit victory in the set and advancing their squad to the second round with a 22-24, 21-17 and 15-6 victories.
While it won’t provide fans with confident expectations heading into their tougher tournament matches later this week, it will be a step up from their recent performances against Florida State. They defeated a team with three wins over teams in the tournament, one that may currently be in their best season in program history.
It certainly isn’t going to get any easier though, and with the tournament recently expanding to 16 teams presents a longer remaining path to the title. It’ll be interesting to see if the Tigers can step up their game like they did last post season, where they took down Florida State and made it all the way to the semifinals.
LSU will face off against No. 3 UCLA Friday, who narrowly avoided an upset in their first round matchup against Stetson. The Bruins have been the Tigers’ biggest postseason obstacles over the years, making this one of the most important matches of the tournament for LSU.
