GULF SHORES, Ala. – No. 4 LSU took down No. 8 TCU, 3-1, in an elimination match at the NCAA Championship to keep its season alive.
“Everytime we step in the sand now we know it’s going to be win or go home,” said head coach Russell Brock. “If it’s pretty, if it’s ugly or if it’s somewhere in between. We’ve got to find a way to get it done. We got it done in good fashion.”
The Tigers will play on ESPN2 on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT against the loser of No. 2 USC and No. 3 FSU which is scheduled for 4 p.m. today. If LSU were to win that match, it would play again in the evening at 5:30 p.m Saturday.
“We know both of those teams really well and we’ll have film,” said Brock. “We’ll have a good idea of what it’s going to take. We owe them both a lot and I’m sure they figure they owe us as well. No matter what, it will be an elimination match against two of the top four teams in the country. There’s a lot riding on that.”
LSU fell to No. 5 Loyola Marymount this morning, 3-2, making to road to a championship more difficult. The Tigers will need to rattle off for more wins, moving through the elimination bracket, in order to claim its first national championship.
After the loss in the morning, LSU came out locked in with its back against the wall. Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss handled Court 1 in straight-sets, 21-17 and 21-19, advancing to 34-0 on the season and earning their 31st straight-set win.
TCU evened the match when Claire Coppola and Kelli Greene-Agnew dropped Court 2, 21-18 and 21-14.
Jess Lansman and Sydney Moore moved the Tigers closer to advancing when they won on Court 4, 21-14 and 21-16. Moments later, Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope and Toni Rodriguez clinched the match for LSU with a win on Court 3, 21-12 and 21-17.
“We had to regroup after this morning after we didn’t get the win, but we came back after that game and regrouped,” Rodriguez said. “We went in with an attack mindset and just went after them.”
Olivia Ordonez and Kahlee York were in a position to win on Court 5. They won the first set, 21-9, but LSU clinched the match before they were able to finish. They were leading 19-11 in the second set when the horn blew to signify the Tigers had won.
(Press Release Provided by LSU Athletics)
