The Tigers are back in Baton Rouge after a long series of away matches, so here’s what you should know before going to the Death Volley Invitational this weekend.
Before leaving to compete in both Manhattan Beach, California, and Austin, Texas, over the last two weeks, LSU’s beach volleyball team sat at a 12-1 record.
It has since returned with a 15-6 record after five losses between the East Meets West Invitational and the East versus West competition.
LSU lost three of its matches at Manhattan Beach, where it faced No. 3 Loyola Marymount (0-5), No. 1 UCLA (1-4), No. 10 California (0-5), claiming a singular victory against No. 17 Hawaii (3-2).
“It would have been great to have more wins,” LSU’s head coach Russell Brock said after the team competed in California. “But we finished on a great note and thankfully we have many more chances to not only improve but also to get some more big wins as we work through our season.”
In the name of improvement, the Sandy Tigs saw both Loyola Marymount and California in Austin at the Wright-Whitaker Sports Complex as well as No. 13 GCU and No. 12 Arizona State last weekend.
Looking for a chance to redeem itself, LSU slammed its match against California shut, winning 3-2, after losing to GCU in its first match of the competition (2-3).
However, it was unable to make a comeback against Loyola Marymount, losing to the Lions once again (2-3).
LSU saw its last chance to start another streak before coming back home to LSU’s beach volleyball stadium and took it as it closed out the weekend to the Arizona State Sun Devils in a 3-2 win.
“We took another step forward this weekend,” Brock said. “This was our most complete weekend yet, and we for sure will be looking to improve this week as we get back to training.”
On top of how the team is trying to make improvements on the sand, they’re also taking serious initiative on the social front.
If you find yourself on Interstate 10 and College Drive quite often, then perhaps you’ve noticed a new purple and gold billboard put up within the last weekend.
“The greatest show on sand,” the billboard reads.
Posing with a volleyball is senior Cassidy Fritz, and while she didn’t compete in the lineup over the past two weeks, she can be recognized for her top-20 win against South Carolina during her sophomore year.
If you don’t regularly keep up with the Tigers but the name still sounds familiar, then maybe that’s because you’ve seen it mentioned on the Instagram of LSU’s Dairy Store.
Made fresh from cows raised by LSU’s School of Agriculture, the Dairy Store sells ice cream among other dairy products, and has taken to theming its different flavors for years now.
From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to home football games including LSU’s 44-21 win against the Nicholls State Colonels, the store frequently experiments with flavors and is now partnering with LSU beach volleyball for a coconut cream pie flavored sweet treat.
So ahead of the volleyball team playing host in what Brock hopes will be another window of improvement for LSU, fans can stop by the Dairy Store for a sweet scoop of ice cream.
