The LSU sand volleyball team had another impressive showing during day two of the Tiger Sand Invitational on Saturday evening, splitting its matches with Florida International and Spring Hill at Mango’s Beach Volleyball Club in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers (6-7) did not dominate like they did Friday when they defeated both New Orleans and North Florida without dropping a set. but they put on a respectable performance in front of the home crowd.
Florida International defeated the Tigers, 4-1, in a rematch its 5-0 win at the UNF Sand Invitational on March 15. Senior Helen Boyle and freshman Cheyenne Wood won the only match for the Tigers, winning on court three in three sets, 18-21, 21-18, 15-11.
“I was proud of the team”, said LSU coach Russell Brock. “We came out and battled a top-10 program in UNF. We played them much stronger than we did last week, even stealing a match from them.”
The Tigers dominated Spring Hill in the second game, sweeping Badgers, 5-0, without losing a single set. It was LSU’s third sweep of the weekend, and players attributed part of their success to playing at home.
“The fact that we’re at home is really helping our confidence right now,” said junior Katie Lindelow. “It definitely showed yesterday sweeping both teams, and our crowd has surely been a factor.”
Brock raved about Boyle and Wood, who haven’t lost a match this weekend. He said they were “a bit shaky” coming into the weekend, but he’s proud they’re playing to their potential.
The Tigers will continue to build on their confidence as they move on to Pairs Bracket Play beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday.
“The confidence we built this weekend was great,” said sophomore Emma Hiller. “It’s really going to help for tomorrow having everyone cheering you on and fighting for every point. We played a lot of good teams this weekend, so that was a really big boost going into tomorrow as an individual pair and as a team.”
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