The LSU beach volleyball team started the season undefeated after Friday’s tournament. They competed Saturday against Houston Baptist and ULM in Houston, Texas. They took home two more wins on Saturday, bringing Head Coach Russell Brock to his 100th win as an LSU coach.
The team had no losses Friday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, bringing LSU to 5-0. The Tigers only lost on court two against HBU, bringing LSU to 4-1.
The LSU beach volleyball team left with a bang after the same pairs from Friday to Saturday won all four matches on every court besides court two.
In the Houston Baptist Tournament, Brock decided to bring some freshmen players. They impressed him with the way they played on the sand for the first time in their collegiate career.
“I thought our young players took advantage of their opportunity to get some early action,” Brock said. “I’m excited to see how they continue to grow. Our veterans were really good. Clearly, there was some rust after a year away, but they played really well. I’m impressed with how fit we are and how we responded to two days of match play.”
The team played on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. at the Houston Baptist Tournament against ULM. The LSU beach volleyball team won 4-1 against ULM. Kahlee York and Olivia Ordonez took home wins on court five with scores of 21-8 and 21-10. Jess Lansman and Ellie Shank led wins on court four with scores of 21-10 and 21-8.
Reilly Allred and Claire Coppola are the freshman and senior duo. They won the first set 21-18 but lost the next two sets to ULM.
The powerhouse pair of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss made ranking up points in the sand look easy. They won on court one 21-12 and 21-8. Toni Rodriguez and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope played well in the last two sets, leading them to victory 21-18 and 15-8.
LSU did not drop a set against HBU at 2:30 p.m. The girls did not back down with the last game of the tournament. Ordonez and York won on court five with scores of 21-15 and 21-14. Lansman and Shank took victory on court four with scores of 21-14 and 21-10.
Kloth and Nuss once again took home a win on court one with scores of 21-14 and 21-11. Rodriguez and Rasnick-Pope won on court three with scores of 21-16 and 21-17. Allred and Coppola made a comeback from this morning with a win against HBU with scores of 21-10 and 21-17.
The Tigers left the tournament on Saturday still being undefeated and took home the win for their first competitive game back since COVID-19 hit last March.
The team is scheduled to host next weekend’s match for the Tiger Beach Challenge against Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Georgia State and Houston Baptist.