LSU’s No. 1 sand volleyball pair, senior Katie Lindelow and freshman Mandi Orellana, will compete in the AVCA National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 8 a.m. May 1.
The pair was selected by the AVCA committee to compete against some of the best in the nation. They will compete Friday and Saturday in pool play for a chance to be seeded into a 16-team single elimination bracket on Sunday.
For LSU coach Russell Brock, Lindelow and Orellana, being selected to play in this tournament is quite the accomplishment considering how few were chosen.
“We felt that we had a great chance for one of our pairs to be selected,” Brock said. “Katie and Mandi have played well all year and definitely deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments.”
Lindelow and Orellana have an impressive record of 19-9, including wins against five ranked opponents.
As for the rest of the Tigers, their season has come to an end after a successful second season in the program’s history. The team won 14 games, more than doubling its win total from the previous season.
“In our second season, the improvement was about as good as it gets.” Brock said. “Before the season even started we had to deal with a bit of adversity with a few players going down with injury, and with us only being a second year program we weren’t as deep as we’d like to be yet, but the persistence of this team didn’t allow that to be an excuse for us this season.”
Going into the offseason, the team will look to improve upon itself by adding depth.
“This offseason we’ll have new players come in and compete for spots.” Brock said. “We are looking to be more complete next season in terms of our depth through every pair in order for us to take it to the next level.”
With this season’s triumphs, expectations will continue to grow for the Tigers in 2015-16. Coach Brock said the team’s goal for next season is to continue to build off the momentum the team built this season, with its ultimate goal being a championship.
You can reach Malcolm Poree on Twitter @MalcolmP_TDR