LSU beach volleyball started to make its mark on campus this season all thanks to their new location.
Since 2014, the Tigers have been playing their matches at Mango’s Beach Club in Baton Rouge. Over the past two season alone, the Tigers have gone 20-1 at Mango’s. They have also appeared in the AVCA Top-10 for 24 consecutive weeks, beginning in 2017. However, Mango’s is 20 minutes from campus and never got much foot traffic of support for the team.
“There’s always been a good crowd,” coach Russell Brock said. “But because of the way it’s laid out, it wasn’t really consolidated and kind of where all the people were. In this scenario just to have everybody kind of on the courts, we’re really hearing the sounds of the match and the crowd, it’s really unique. Definitely something we haven’t experienced before.”
In February 2018 LSU athletics announced they were going to revitalize the old tennis courts into a new beach volleyball facility in the heart of campus. A little less than a year later the team was allowed to begin their preseason practice there. The Tigers played their first home game in mid-March versus Coastal Carolina where they swept the competition.
Coastal Carolina was just one match rather than a series. It was also a rainy, cold afternoon when the teams faced each other. That first game over 550 fans showed up to support the Tigers. It was the largest crowd the team had ever gotten a chance to play in front of, aside from collegiate tournaments.
The fans have many seating options within the facility. There are rafters where the fans can see the overview of all of the courts at once. There is also an option to be courtside right in the sand. The facility has provided tables for spectators to get a closer look as well as an emptied hill for fan to relax on while they watch their preferred court.
“We feed off of their energy,” junior Kristen Nuss said. “Once the fans get excited about a play and you hear that on the court, you definitely feed off of that. Just the people interacting on the sides. Our sport is very interactive so you can just kind of be dancing on the side and people up top can feel that energy so we just all feed off of each other.”
The new facility has yet to see a loss. After Coastal California, the Tigers hosted the Tiger Beach Challenge for North Florida, Tulane, Georgia State and Southern Miss. LSU swept the whole Challenge to make their new record 13-4 for the season. This Challenge had even more fans show up thanks to the beautiful weather.
Teams thrive off of the fans support and energy. LSU fans are known for the energy they bring to all of their sport events and beach volleyball is no different. The dorms across from the facility can hear the cheers and reactions from the fans on gameday. They enhance the on-campus experience for the team and enhance their overall performance.
“We’re super blessed,” Nuss said. “Campus is awesome. There’s so many great teams on this campus and for us now to be part of that, it’s really something special.”