LSU beach volleyball showcased its strong form to start the season in its Purple and Gold Scrimmage. Last season, the squad made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament to cap off a successful year. 
The scrimmage was not like a typical match for the Tigers as it gave the team a chance to play multiple games against each other to test their strengths without keeping score.
Along with the scrimmage, LSU held a kids clinic to teach children beach volleyball.
“It was great,” coach Russell Brock said. “Every year we do this and every year there is more awareness of this event. We had more people than we ever had before. We had a great crowd for the kids clinic. It was fun to play in front of the fans.”
Even though LSU had teams compete against each other during the scrimmage, the Tigers focus was on getting ready for the season opener on Friday at the GCU Beach Tournament, hosted by Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
LSU will open the season against Cal Poly in the GCU Beach Tournament on Friday, followed by a game against the host, Grand Canyon.
On Saturday, the Tigers will play last season’s national runners-up Pepperdine followed by Nebraska to close out the tournament.
“Last year we did the same thing, we had a really tough front loaded schedule,” Brock said. “It was great for us. It kind of let us know where we were and what we need to do to improve ourselves. I think it is important early on for us to play really tough matches and show we are as good as we can possibly be right off the bat.”
With the tough road test looming, the Purple and Gold Scrimmage gave LSU a chance to play in front of a home crowd at Mango’s Beach Volleyball Club before the season started.
The Tigers will play in three more road tournaments before they return to  Mango’s on March 24 for the Tiger Beach Challenge.
“The team has just been dying to get out and compete,” senior Cheyenne Wood said. “It is going to be such a great season. Today just showed how hard everyone is working.”
Sophomores Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss looked in peak form after a sensational freshman season.
Coppola and Nuss were 27-7 last season in individual pairings with a  9-1 record against ranked competition and were selected to Volleyballmag.com’s All-American team.
“The most impressive thing is that they had great results last year, but they are playing so much better,” Brock said. “Both of them have invested in their game, they have invested in each other and they have invested in this program.”
Along with the return of Coppola and Nuss, the play of LSU’s 10 newcomers on the roster stood out during the exhibition.
“Some of the players that played had never played a competitive match,” Brock said. “It will be different next week, but this was a little bit more fomal and organized than a practice would be. This is kind of the next step in learning what it will be like when we put on the uniform and play against somebody else.”