Over his brief tenure in Baton Rouge, Russell Brock has fielded some of the top teams in the sport of Beach Volleyball, making it to the National Championship tournament multiple times.

But now, the Tigers head coach has something he hasn’t had before.

Size.

Holly Carlton, a standout from the University of Florida indoor program, made her debut on Saturday in the Purple and Gold Scrimmage for the Sandy Tigs. Standing 6-5 and a left-handed swinger, Carlton started all 55 matches for the Gators on her way to being named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American.

The COVID-19 pandemic completely changed the timeline for Carlton. She was set to be a Sandy Tig almost a year before arriving on campus.

“I knew I wanted to play beach volleyball once I finished my outdoor eligibility,” she said. “The first coach to reach out to me once I hit the portal was Russell. His email was so different from anything else that I had experienced. It was talking about everything but beach volleyball. He knew about my character and my faith and he was open and vulnerable about his. It made an instant connection for me with LSU.

“I got to take a pair of visits back in 2020. I was here for the match against UCLA when they beat the top-ranked team in the country before a packed house. I was supposed to be part of the 2021 team at LSU, but indoor got moved to spring and the schedules got all out of whack.”

Growing almost a foot since her freshman year, Carlton said has grown to embrace and enjoy her size not just on the court or in the sand, but in life in general.

“It has been quite the journey through my life,” she said regarding her size. “I was 5-8 my freshman year of high school. Needless to say I had a really late growth spurt. So I didn’t always have eyes on me or people asking me questions everywhere I went.

“One big thing that has helped me is throughout my college career my faith has grown. God created my body in a certain way and I’m cool with that. I used to get upset when people would say she can only score because she is tall or she is a good blocker because she is tall. Now, I’m okay with it. I’m like, sure, god gave me this gift and I’m proud of it. I love the feeling of the block of an opponent.”

Carlton admitted that the transition from beach has not been easy, but the progress she has made from the first day she arrived on the sand in Baton Rouge has been drastic.

“I had played in tournaments in the sand but never really trained or coached to play in it well,” she said. “I’m getting a lot better every day. Passing is a skill that I didn’t do on the hardwood, but you have to do it in the sand as well as just general mobility on the beach. They call it getting your sand legs.

“There has been a big difference from day one to now. You just have to get the experience and you can only do that by grinding it out. I had days where I tried to run and just fell down. I have improved upon that and continue to get better and better.”