With the season set to start on the last weekend of February, LSU beach volleyball coach Russel Brock announced the tournament schedule for the Tigers next season.
LSU is scheduled to host three events that will include several teams consistently ranked in the top 15, such as Florida State, South Carolina and Southern Cal, along with four tournaments away from home. Although Tigers know where they will play their matches on certain dates, final match schedules for all weekends are not yet blocked and all matches / opponents are subject to change.
The Tigers will be competing for the first time since last spring, when LSU was the country’s No. 1 team before the season ended prematurely. With the NCAA granting spring sports student athletes an extra year of eligibility, Brock and his coaching staff returned all members of last year’s historic team and also added five freshmen, in addition to an undergraduate transfer.
LSU will open its season in Texas at the Houston Baptist Tournament and face HBU, Louisiana Monroe and Texas A & M-Corpus Christi from February 26 to 27.
The following weekend, the Tigers will be at home at the LSU beach volleyball stadium, the main university beach volleyball facility in the country, for the Tiger Beach Challenge, March 6-7. LSU will host HBU, the state of Georgia, the Atlantic of Florida and the state of Florida, a team consistently in the country’s Top-10.
LSU will travel to Gulf Shores the following week, March 13-14, to UAB from March to May. The list of teams that will be present includes UAB, TCU, Stetson, State of Florida, State of Georgia, Tulane and Grand Canyon, although it is still uncertain which combination of these teams will make the Tigers’ schedule.
From March 20 to 21, Tigers will host the LSU Beach Invitational. The Tigers are scheduled to compete against the three-time national champions Southern Cal in a debut match alongside South Carolina, New Orleans, HBU, Southern Mississippi and TAMUCC. LSU will have time off the following week.
After the farewell, the Tigers will move to Manhattan Beach, California, April 3-4 for the East vs. East Challenge. West. Although the list of participating teams is not yet available, the East Challenge vs. Oeste is an annual event that always presents the best programs from all over the country.
After the trip to the west coast, Tigers will receive UNO, Spring Hill, Central Arkansas, Texas A & M-Kingsville and ULM from April 9-10 to the Battle at Bayou.
LSU will end the regular season with another trip to the Gulf Shores, April 17-18, for a tournament organized by the State of Florida attended by Tulane, Southern Mississippi and TCU.
The following week, the Tigers will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for the April 23-25 April CCSA Tournament.
The NCAA championship tournament will feature the country’s top eight teams in Gulf Shores from May 7 to 9.