Gulf Shores, AL. – The LSU Beach Volleyball team won the nail-biting battle against No. 3 Stanford, 3-2, at the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship Saturday afternoon and fell to No. 2 UCLA in the Final Four matchup.
The Sandy Tigs started the day with the largest upset in NCAA Beach Tournament history, defeating No. 2 Stanford 3-2. Amber Haynes and Skylar Martin lost Court 4; 16-21 and 16-21. Gabi Bailey and Ellie Shank lost Court 1; 21-12, 20-22 and 8-15.
Courts 2, 3 and 5 went to three sets to secure the reverse sweep to send the Tigers to the Final Four match. Aubrey O’Gorman and Ella Larkin start off the winning streak with a win on Court 3; 21-18, 16-21 and 16-14. Emily Meyer and Yali Ashush follow in their footsteps, winning Court 5; 21-14, 17-21 and 15-13. To clinch the upset for the Tigers, Reilly Allred and Parker Bracken earn a hard-fought win on Court 2; 18-21, 22-20 and 24-22.
“The Stanford win was amazing,” said head coach Russell Brock. “It’s always so tough to back up a big emotional win with another great performance, so to come out and battle an even better team than we just battled was really impressive. Every court played their hearts out and that’s all we can really ask. There are wins that are noteworthy in the history of our program and this would be one of those.”
After a short break, the Sandy Tigs were set to face No. 2 UCLA in the Final Four match to decide who goes to the National Championship match and lost, 3-1. The last time the Tigers were in the Semifinal match was in 2021.
Haynes and Martin lost Court 4; 9-21 and 11-21. Allred and Bracken win Court 2; 23-21 and 21-18. Bailey and Shank lost Court 1; 19-21 and 14-21. O’Gorman and Larkin lost Court 3; 19-21 and 19-21.
The Sandy Tigs finish out the 2024 season with an overall record of 27-12 and made the longest run by a No. 11 seed in NCAA Beach Tournament history.
“With the big wins and the strong finish, the thing I’m most proud of this weekend is how the team played,” said Brock. “The fight was constant on all courts and the wins were shared all through the lineup. We really played as a team. This was a weekend where it would have been easy to buy into the notion that we weren’t a top program. There were plenty of doubters. The easy thing to do would have been to believe those people, show up, give a bit of a fight and lose to the teams that people want to be better than us. We didn’t fall into that trap and insisted on believing that we were who we have believed we were all season long. Proving that reality exists in real time, in the sand, to everyone on this stage was the goal. It would have been great to get over the hump in the semifinal and have a shot at the championship, but I could not be more proud of how this team played and how they represented our program. What a wonderful group!”
LSU 3, Stanford 2
- Brooke Rockwell and Xolani Hodel (Stan) def. Gabi Bailey and Ellie Shank (LSU) 12-21 22-20 15-8
- Parker Bracken and Reilly Allred (LSU) def. Taylor Wilson and Ruby Sorra (Stan) 18-21 22-20 24-22
- Ella Larkin and Aubrey O’Gorman (LSU) def. Kelly Belardi and Chloe Hoffman (Stan) 21-18 16-21 16-14
- Clara Stowell and Kate Reilly (Stan) def. Skylar Martin and Amber Haynes (LSU) 21-16 21-16
- Emily Meyer and Yali Ashush (LSU) def. Maya Harvey and Ashley Vincent (Stan) 21-14 17-21 15-13
LSU 1, UCLA 3
- Maggie Boyd and Lexy Denaburg (UCLA) def. Gabi Bailey and Ellie Shank (LSU) 21-19 21-14
- Parker Bracken and Reilly Allred (LSU) def. Peri Brennan and Devon Newberry (UCLA) 23-21 21-18
- Jessie Smith and Kenzie Brower (UCLA) def. Ella Larkin and Aubrey O’Gorman (LSU) 21-19 21-19
- Jaden Whitmarsh and Tessa Van Winkle (UCLA) def. Skylar Martin and Amber Haynes (LSU) 21-9 21-11
- Natalie Myszkowski and Ensley Alden (UCLA) vs. Emily Meyer and Yali Ashush (LSU) match was unfinished 23-25 11-10