2019 NCAA Championship

The Tigers took the program to new heights in 2019, recording many ‘firsts’ throughout the season. Before the campaign began, LSU opened the premeire facility in Collegiate Beach Volleyball, LSU Beach Volleyball Stadium.

The Tigers would go onto finish with a perfect home record, 13-0 in the first season in their new stadium. The Tigers earned their highest ranking of all time after going 4-0 in the first week of the season, No. 4, and held onto the ranking for the majority of the season. LSU’s 25 regular season victories were the most in program history.

LSU finished as the runner-up at the CCSA Tournament, falling to Florida State in the championship match for the second straight year. LSU earned the No. 5 seed heading into the NCAA Championship and was set to play No. 4 Pepperdine.

LSU swept the first set on all five courts and ultimately clinched the match on Courts 1, 4 and 5. It was the first time in prgram history that LSU won its opening match at the NCAA Championship. No. 8 Stetson became the first team ever to defeat the top seed as it handed USC an opening round loss, setting up a Tigers vs. Hatters matchup in Round 2.

With the matchup tied at two courts a piece, the attention shifted to Court 5 where Allison Coens and Hunter Domanski were in a third set. The set was all evened out at 13 when the LSU duo earned back-to-back points, sending the Tigers to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in program history. It was Coens and Domanski’s ninth third set win of the season.

The following day, LSU would fall to UCLA, 3-0, but with the championship’s double elimination format, the Tigers still had one more chance to advance to championship. After dropping the first set on Courts 4 and 5, LSU came storming back to take both courts to give the Tigers and early 2-0 edge, but USC came back on Courts 1, 2 and 3 to advance to the NCAA Championship Match where it fell to UCLA.

LSU finished with a program-best 31 victories and after being ranked No. 4 for most of the season finished as the No. 3 team in the land, heading into the offseason with the highest ranking in program history.

Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss earned their second consectuive AVCA All-America honor and went on to win the USAV Collegiate Beach Championship for the second straight season.

#5 LSU Tigers 3, #4 Pepperdine 0 1. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) def. Brook Bauer/Heidi Dyer (PEP) 21-19, 21-18 4. Maddie Ligon/Olivia Beyer (LSU) def. Maddie Dilfer/Nikki Lyons (PEP) 27-25, 21-19 5. Allison Coens/Hunter Domanski (LSU) def. Katie Gavin/Simone Priebe (PEP) 21-18, 21-17

#5 LSU 3, #8 Stetson 2 1. Kristen Nuss/Claire Coppola (LSU) def. S. Helland-Hansen/Carly Perales (STET) 21-14, 21-16 2. Sammee Thomas/Darby Dunn (STET) def. Kelli Agnew/Olivia Powers (LSU) 21-16, 21-18 3. Ana Costa/Rachel Noble (STET) def. Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope/Toni Rodriguez (LSU) 21-17, 20-22, 17-15 4. Maddie Ligon/Olivia Beyer (LSU) def. Samantha Harris/Julie Varga (STET) 21-8, 21-19 5. Allison Coens/Hunter Domanski (LSU) def. Quinci Birker/Rebecca Ingram (STET) 22-20, 18-21, 15-13

#2 UCLA 3, #5 LSU Tigers 0 2. Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Kelli Agnew/Olivia Powers (LSU) 21-9, 21-17 3. Zana Muno/Abby Van Winkle (UCLA) def. Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope/Toni Rodriguez (LSU) 21-15, 21-12 5. Hannah Phair/Lindsey Sparks (UCLA) def. Allison Coens/Hunter Domanski (LSU) 21-8, 21-18

#1 USC 3, #5 LSU Tigers 2 1. Tina Graudina/Abril Bustamante (USC) def. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) 21-18, 21-18 2. Sammy Slater/Terese Cannon (USC) def. Olivia Powers/Kelli Agnew (LSU) 21-13, 21-12 3. Haley Hallgren/Alexandra Poletta (USC) def. Toni Rodriguez/Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope (LSU) 21-13, 21-14 4. Olivia Beyer/Maddie Ligon (LSU) def. Maja Kaiser/Joy Dennis (USC) 19-21, 21-17, 15-13 5. Hunter Domanski/Kahlee York (LSU) def. Mollie Ebertin/Cammie Dorn (USC) 17-21, 21-13, 15-9