LSU beach volleyball has been constantly improving their program since their start six years ago, and this season they have had a huge jump start, but the team still isn’t satisfied.
In the Tiger’s opening weekend, they went 4-0 in the FSU Invitational, taking down four top-ranked teams. This was also the first time in program history LSU was able to defeat FSU, who were the runners up in the National Championship last season. This also pushed the Tigers to a No. 4 ranking, which is the highest in program history.
“We’re not satisfied — pleased, maybe,” head coach Russell Brock said. “I think that informed is a good place after playing. You don’t really know what you’re gonna get, so when you play you find out a lot about your team in that competitive environment. It was really good to see how our players played, what they struggled with, what they were successful with.”
LSU will be on the road again for their next match up in Boca Raton, Fla. for the Beach Burrow Bash at FAU. The Tigers will face returning opponents Florida St. and South Carolina, as well as Florida Atlantic and UAB. The Tigers took down FSU and South Carolina in opening weekend by a score of 3-2.
The only team not ranked in the Bash is UAB, but they have been known to be tough competition, so this weekend isn’t one the Tigers will take lightly. Brock said last weekend showed areas that needed to be improved and those have been worked on in practice. However, it’s difficult to fully capitalize on those with such a quick turnaround time.
“I think it just showed us our weaknesses and what we need to work on,” junior Claire Coppola said. “So that we can come into practice during the week and really focus on that type of stuff and continue to get better throughout the season to help prepare us.”
LSU is coming into the Bash being the highest ranked team and the one everyone is wanting to beat. Their biggest competition will be FSU. Even though the Tigers won against FSU last week, FSU still holds the No. 5 spot and will be looking for revenge.
“I think I’d always prefer to be the underdog,” Brock said. “It takes a little bit of the pressure off. That’s kind of how we felt going into the weekend because people didn’t expect us to win particularly against FSU. Now maybe that we’ve done it, people are gonna expect us to be a little different than we were, and that added pressure.”
“It’s something you’ve gotta handle, but that goes with the territory. If you wanna be one of the best teams in the country, you’re gonna be favored most of the times you play. We wanna be that, so even if we haven’t been that for as long as some other programs, we have to learn how to deal with that added pressure and those expectations.”
The Tigers keep saying they aren’t satisfied. They’re hungry for that No. 1 spot and for a chance to play in the National Championship at the end of the season. Each weekend is a stepping stone toward those goals. The Tigers are ready to dominate their sixth season with LSU.
“We were super excited, but we’re also not satisfied,” junior Kristen Nuss said.
LSU will travel to Boca Raton, Fla. March 1 to begin the Beach Burrow Bash at FAU.
