BATON ROUGE, La. --- The Tusculum University beach volleyball team battled two Division I foes on the opening day of the Tiger Beach Challenge, hosted by LSU. The Pioneers fell to North Alabama and the No. 5 Tigers.
Tusculum (2-4) remains in Louisiana for one more day. The Pioneers will round out the Tiger Beach Challenge with back-to-back showings against Central Arkansas and UAB on Sunday (Mar. 5), beginning at 1 p.m. EST.
Match 1: North Alabama 4, Tusculum 1
The No. 4 flight of Katie McLamb and Charlyn Miller tallied the lone win against the Lions to open the Cajun stay.
The duo needed three sets to down their opposites by scores of 21-13, 19-21, 20-18.
Kassidy Mercado and Morgan Pacione dropped the top flight 21-8, 21-7.
Kyla Oppenhuis and Jordyn Anderson did not go down without a fight as the 2's, falling 30-28, 21-17.
Emma Johnson and Hannah Marsh suffered their first loss in 2023 by way of a 22-20, 21-13 setback at No. 3.
At the fifth flight, Landry Tea and Riley Rushing lost their 21-15, 21-14 decision.
In the exhibition sixth flight, Katie Murphy and Sophia Baella notched a 21-10, 21-18 defeat.
Match 2: #5 LSU 5, Tusculum 0
The Pioneers faced their second-ever ranked opponent in the top-five Tigers.
Mercado and Pacione combined for 10 points as the top flight, falling 21-3, 21-7.
Oppenhuis and Anderson nearly claimed set one but dropped a 21-19, 21-12 showing.
As the No. 3's, Johnson and Marsh had the second-best outing against the ranked Tigers with their 21-17, 21-12 outcome.
McLamb and Miller followed up their win with a 21-13, 21-15 decision in LSU's favor.
Tea and Rushing rounded out the scoring with a 21-14, 21-11 loss.
Sage Dunne and Sofia Richmond competed in the exhibition flight, finishing with an identical 21-10, 21-10 setback.
