LSU’s beach volleyball team finally navigated its way past the program’s historical roadblock.
The fourth-seeded Tigers, with 1-14 lifetime record against Florida State including four losses this season, beat the third-seeded Seminoles 3-1 in an NCAA national championship tournament elimination match early Saturday afternoon in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The Tigers (27-8) now play at 5:30 p.m. late Saturday afternoon against the winner of top-seed UCLA and No. 7 seed Cal-Poly.
It was LSU’s Court 1 duo of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth clinching the win that broke the Tigers’ six-match losing streak to Florida State dating back to 2019.
In improving to 35-0 on the season, it was the most challenging match of the year for Nuss and Kloth, who beat FSU’s Alaina Chacon and Maddie Anderson (FSU) 13-21, 21-14, 15-13.
The Seminoles, who had used two different Court 1 pairs in four losses this season to Nuss and Kloth, changed again Saturday pairing 6-1 redshirt freshman Anderson (to battle the 6-4 Kloth) and 5-9 redshirt junior Chacon (to match the 5-6 Nuss).
Nuss and Kloth had just lost three sets all season, but Anderson and Chacon handed LSU’s unbeaten duo its worst set loss of the season with a dominating 21-13 first set win. It was the first time this year Nuss and Kloth had lost a first set.
Yet, Nuss and Kloth came out in the second set and led from start to finish and stayed ahead for most of the third and deciding set.
No. 4 seed LSU 3, No. 3 seed Florida State 1
Court 1 Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss (LSU) beat Alaina Chacon/ Maddie Anderson (FSU) 13-21, 21-14, 15-13
Court 2: Torrey Van Winden/Keara Rutz (FSU) beat Claire Coppola/Kelli Greene-Agnew (LSU) 21-18, 21-15
Court 3: Toni Rodriguez/Ashlyn Rasnick (LSU) beat Payton Caffrey/Molly McBain (FSU) beat 21-15, 19-21, 11-6 unfinished
Court 4: Jess Lansman/Sydney Moore (LSU) beat Sara Putt/Raelyn White (FSU) 21-18, 21-19
Court 5: Olivia Ordonez/Kahlee York (LSU) beat Liz Waters-Leiga/Jenna Johnson (FSU) 22-20, 21-14
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