The LSU sand volleyball team won all three of its day one matches at the Battle on the Bayou tournament at Mango’s Beach Volleyball Club in Baton Rouge on Saturday.
“We feel so much more comfortable at home,” said sophomore Emma Hiller. “Playing in front of our home crowd where you know everybody is cheering for you and wants us to win gives us that extra motivation to secure these home wins.”
LSU (13-8) is 6-1 at home this season with two more home matches to play Sunday against UL-Monroe at 11 a.m. and Tulane at 2 p.m.
The team began day one with a 5-0 sweep of UNO, all five pairs winning in straight sets. Game 2 against South Carolina was the toughest matchup of the day, as the Tigers were down 2-0 early but kept fighting to pull off a 3-2 victory.
“South Carolina was a battle, and we knew it would be,” said LSU coach Russell Brock. “Playing the only other [Southeastern Conference] team we knew there would be something extra. Coming out, we dropped our four and five matchups so one, two and three knew they had to bring it in order to win, and they did.”
LSU’s final match of the day was against Spring Hill, which it defeated, 5-0, for the third time this season.
As the Tigers inch closer to concluding their regular season, their confidence continues to grow each weekend.
“We are building our confidence,” said freshman Mandi Orellana. “At the beginning of the year it was kind of frustrating for us trying to get in rhythm, but now we’re building our confidence and getting better at it.”