The LSU beach volleyball team is ranked No. 3. They competed Saturday against No. 18 Georgia State and No. 2 Florida State at the March to May in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
The Tigers won against Georgia State in the morning on Saturday, bringing LSU to 5-1. LSU played again later on Saturday against Florida State. Florida State barely beat LSU with a score of 2-3.
“I’m so proud of how our team played today,” Head Coach Russell Brock said. “It’s clear that we’ve been individually and as a group focusing on getting better and it showed today.”
For the Georgia State game, Olivia Ordonez and Kahlee York got the team moving on Court Five with three sets. They lost the first set 21-12, but they won the second set 21-16. They took home the win on Court Five with a quick third set with a score of 15-4.
Jess Lansman and Syndey Moore took home the next win with a spike on Court Four. They won both sets 21-15. The power duo Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss made playing look easy when they won both matches on court one 21-15 and 21-14.
Toni Rodriguez and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope also took home a quick win on Court Three with scores of 21-13 and 21-9. Claire Coppola and Kelli Greene-Agnew took home the win on Court Two. The pair won the first set 21-19 but lost to GSU on set two 21-13. They didn’t let another win get taken away, so they won the third set 15-12 helping LSU win against the Panthers.
Later on Saturday against Florida State, Lansman and Moore took home the first win for LSU, winning both sets 21-18 and 26-24 on Court Four. Ordonez and York lost on Court Five with scores of 21-18 and 21-16.
Coppola and Greene-Agnew had a hard time in the sand with FSU and lost on Court Two with scores of 21-15 and 21-17. Kloth and Nuss dominated on Court One and took home the win for LSU. They won the first set 21-16 but lost the second set 21-16. They spiked down a win on their third set with a score of 15-12.
Greene-Agnew and Rodriguez lost the match against FSU. They took home the win on the first set 21-13 but lost on the second set 22-20. They kept up a winning score lead, but then FSU took home the win on the third set on Court Three.
“That was the strongest resistance we’ve faced so far this year and we definitely responded well to it,” Brock said. “The effort the team showed was incredible. It’s tough to lose one that was so close.”
