BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Because the solar set Saturday on the Dying Volley Invitational, LSU coach Russell Brock thought of the ups and downs his LSU seashore volleyball crew had skilled the earlier two days.
The Tigers misplaced twice Friday, getting swept by No. 3 Stanford earlier than shedding 4-1 to No. 6 Cal.
After which Saturday, in a impossible upset, the No. 10 Sandy Tigs got here away with a 3-2 victory over top-ranked USC, which hadn’t misplaced since February 24 in the course of the first weekend of the NCAA season.
However then, on this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of sports activities, No. 2 UCLA put a punctuation mark on its weekend with a 5-0 sweep of LSU.
The weekend tally:
UCLA, prone to transfer as much as No. 1 on this week’s AVCA coaches ballot, and Stanford went 4-0.
USC went 3-1. Cal went 2-2, No. 4 TCU, No. 5 Florida State and LSU every went 1-3 and No. 17 Florida Atlantic completed 0-4.
It marked the strongest assortment of ranked groups ever in an in-season faculty seashore event and was streamed internationally on Volleyball World TV.
“First, I feel the occasion was unreal,” Brock mentioned. “Once we constructed this place (the on-campus LSU Seashore Volleyball Stadium) that is the form of stuff we needed to point out off and exhibit our sport and exhibit this facility and invite the most effective groups within the nation to return and play. I don’t suppose it may have gone higher.”
“What a wonderful event,” USC coach Dain Blanton echoed.
Certainly, not solely was the climate excellent, the occasion ran on time and the groups left right here with a reasonably good deal with on themselves and the highest of the school recreation with 5 weeks till the Nationwide Collegiate Seashore Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Could 3-5.
“Would we now have moderately pulled out a pair on that first day and gone 3-1? Completely. Would we moderately have pulled off that UCLA match? Completely. However these are good groups,” Brock mentioned.
“So should you don’t earn it, you’re not going to get it. However I feel we made steps from a lineup perspective and we’re nonetheless not accomplished. We nonetheless have work to do however we’re higher than we have been once we walked in right here on Friday and began taking part in. That’s all you may actually ask for.”
To Brock’s level, LSU toed a superb line between successful and shedding in all of its matches.
In opposition to Stanford, it misplaced on courts 1 and a pair of in 3 units. In opposition to USC, the No. 1 pair of Gabi Bailey and Elli Shank misplaced in three and on the three courts it received — No. 2 Parker Bracken and Reilly Allred, No. 3 Aubrey O’Gorman and Ella Larkin and No. 4 Amber Haynes and Skylar Martin — all received in three. That included O’Gorman and Larkin beating the USC Nourse twins, Audrey and Nicole, 21-19, 17-21, 19-17.
USC bounced again by beating Florida State in 4, which included a gritty and exhausting 21-17, 17-21, 25-23 victory by the Nourses over FSU indoor star Audrey Koenig and Raelyn White.
“You be taught much more once you lose, you realize what I imply?” USC’s Blanton mentioned. “We have been rolling and I don’t suppose we’d misplaced in 40 days. Typically you be taught these classes once you lose. However let’s give the credit score to LSU. They performed very well.”
In LSU’s finale in opposition to UCLA, the Bruins received in three at No. 3 as Kenzie Brower and Jessie Smith beat O’Gorman and Larkin 21-14, 20-22, 15-10, and at No. 4 when Tessa Van Winkle and Jaden Whitmarsh topped Haynes and Martin 21-16, 11-21, 15-12. And even at No. 1, it was fierce battle as Lexy Denaburg and Maggie Boyd got here away with a 25-23, 21-18 victory over Bailey and Shank.
“We knew coming in right here there can be loads of powerful competitors and we knew everybody would give us their greatest recreation,” mentioned first-year UCLA coach Jenny Johnson Jordan. “Which they did.”
Jordan, the previous UCLA indoor nice and 2000 seashore Olympian, credited her crew’s consistency and steadiness. She was a longtime assistant to Stein Metzger, who left final 12 months to take over the fledgling program at Texas.
Her assistants are each new, type of. Brazilian icon Jose Loiola was a volunteer at UCLA in 2021. And Kelly Reeves, who received an indoor title at UCLA in 2011 earlier than going professional on the seashore, had been a volunteer assistant at Loyola Marymount.
“Clearly yearly is totally different. We now have new coaches, new dynamics, loads of change and also you by no means know precisely the way it’s going to work out, however my mantra is all the time going to be that change is nice,” Jordan mentioned. “And it’s been good for us. We’ve figured issues out when it comes to partnerships and training and our progress as a program. I couldn’t be happier. The one approach I may very well be happier is that if we end No. 1 on the the tip.”
UCLA has accomplished that twice, successful all of it in 2018 and 2019. The Bruins have been a robust favourite in 2020 when the season was canceled halfway by means of due to COVID. UCLA misplaced to three-time champion USC in final 12 months’s title match.
And about being a probable No. 1 this week?
“I don’t care about that,” Jordan mentioned. “I need to be No. 1 on the finish. That’s what issues.”
That was a well-recognized chorus at a event that included final week’s high 6 groups in AVCA ballot, together with No. 10 and No. 17.
And so they all get after it once more subsequent weekend. USC (21-3), UCLA (19-4), Stanford (18-2) and Cal (15-7) go to Seattle for the Pac-12 North Invitational. LSU (13-8) goes to a event at Georgia State, FSU (20-5) is at dwelling, and TCU (19-5) has its personal event that features Texas and Hawai’i. FAU (12-11) is at Florida State.
“I don’t envy the (NCAA) choice committee,” Brock mentioned. “Not simply the alternatives, but additionally the seeding. It’s gonna be loopy. That’s why we really feel within the subsequent three weekends earlier than we get to (the CCSA Championship April 26-27) we’ve bought to have a very good displaying.”
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Listed here are hyperlinks to the respective tales and full outcomes from all eight faculties that participated within the Dying Volley Invitational, a play off the LSU soccer stadium, referred to as Dying Valley:
USC, which swept TCU and FAU on Friday, misplaced to LSU and beat FSU on Saturday.
UCLA, which beat FSU and TCU on Friday, beat FAU and LSU on Saturday.
Stanford, which beat FAU and LSU on Friday, got here away with 3-2 victories Saturday over each TCU and FSU.
Cal misplaced to Florida State and beat LSU on Friday earlier than beating FAU and shedding to TCU on Saturday.
TCU was swept by each USC and UCLA on Friday earlier than shedding 3-2 to Stanford on Saturday and beating Cal 3-2.
LSU misplaced to Stanford and Cal on Friday after which beat USC earlier than shedding to UCLA on Saturday.
Florida State misplaced to UCLA and beat Cal on Friday earlier than shedding to Stanford and USC on Saturday.
Florida Atlantic was swept by Stanford and USC on Friday and misplaced 4-1 Saturday to each Cal and UCLA.
