It has been over 700 days since the Tigers last competed at the NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama. However, the LSU Tiger team members have not strayed from obtaining the same goal they were striving to achieve back in 2020.

It’s no secret that this year has brought many unprecedented changes and challenges, but the Tigers have shown their resiliency throughout these times. Rather than letting the COVID-19 pandemic get the best of them, they have chosen to fight and embrace being together.

With regular season competition ending, the Tigers would be remiss to not look back and be grateful for everything that has brought them this far. The student-athletes have put in a lot of work behind the scenes that has allowed them to be in the position they are in.

Fifth-year senior Claire Coppola, who was originally supposed to graduate in 2020, simply feels lucky to be surrounded by such talented teammates and is grateful for her opportunity to come back and fight for a national title.

“We have a lot of incredible girls that are willing to go the extra mile to get better,” she said. “It has been amazing to watch people grind during breaks or on off days or see someone take the next steps in their mental game.”

In similarity, LSU’s coaching staff shared similar thoughts. Assistant coach Cati Leak claims she gets a front row seat in witnessing a group of people show up every day, fighting to stay together when the world mandates separation.

“Each player made a commitment back in 2020 to do whatever it took to put LSU in position to win a championship,” Leak said. “That commitment has continued to play out this season.”

While the Tigers are buckling down in post-season work, determination and hard work have allowed them to keep their goals in clear view.

Sixth-year senior Taryn Kloth is determined to help lead her team to success at the end of the season.

“Our success this year has come from focusing on our goals that we made as a team,” Kloth said. “We are striving for our first conference championship and our first national championship.”

With little time left, the LSU beach volleyball team plans to make the most of the time they have left together on and off the sand. Sixth-year senior Jess Lansman said that the year’s challenges were exactly what the Tigers needed.

“I feel like the trials and storms can bring a team together or can separate them,” Lansman said. “I feel like the trials of this semester have brought us way closer and have given us something to fight for.”

LSU Women’s Beach Volleyball will continue to push in these final weeks of the 2021 season to make history in Gulf Shores. Head coach Russell Brock is confident that his team will finish the season with excellence.

That run to an elusive National Championship begins on Friday with the CCSA Conference Tournament in Huntsville, followed by the National Championships May 7-9 in Gulf Shores.

The CCSA Tournament is split into two brackets, the aqua and the blue. The Tigers will compete as the second seed in the double-elimination aqua bracket against No. 1 Florida State, No. 3 TCU, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 Tulane, No. 6 College of Charleston, No. 7 Missouri State and No. 8 UNC-Wilmington.