The LSU Beach Volleyball team lost both of its matches on March 13 at the East Meets West tournament in Manhattan Beach, California, falling to No. 10 California and No. 1 UCLA.
The results mark a challenging start for LSU as it faces strong competition early in the tournament. The team will have two more matches on Saturday against No. 9 Loyola Marymount University and No. 13 Hawai’i before returning home for the Death Volley Invitational in Baton Rouge next weekend.
In their first match of the day, LSU narrowly lost to California with a score of 2-3. Skylar Martin and Tatum Finlason secured a win for LSU on Court 2 with scores of 21-18 and 22-20, while Camryn Chatellier and Aubrey O’Gorman added another point by winning in straight sets on Court 4. However, Julia Sprecher and Kenzey McGatlin fell on Court 1, Kate Baker and Zayna Meyer lost after three sets on Court 5, and Bella Lagemann with Emily Hellmuth were defeated in three sets on Court 3.
After a short break, LSU faced top-ranked UCLA but was unable to secure any wins, losing all five courts. Martin and Finlason fell in straight sets on Court 2; Campbell and O’Gorman also lost their match on Court 4; Hellmuth and Lagemann were defeated on Court 3; Meyer and Baker gave up the fourth point to UCLA on Court 5; while Sprecher and McGatlin completed the sweep for UCLA by losing their match on Court 1.
LSU will look to rebound as it continues play at the East Meets West tournament before returning home for further competition.
