2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 55
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T
he LSU Beach Volleyball team has a junior and
senior pair like no other this season. This pair can
dig, spike and block like no other. This unique pair
is Claire Coppola and Kelli Greene-Agnew.
This is their first season playing with each other and
they continue to learn and grow after each game they play
together. No matter what, they always have each other’s
backs and keep their heads high on the courts.
“If we do what we know we can do then no one can stop
us,” Coppola said.
Coppola, senior, and Greene-Agnew, junior, are together
for the first time in their beach volleyball careers. Their goal
as a pair is to win every game that they can to help the team
with an extra point on the scoreboard.
“Also to play with confidence,” Coppola said. “I think that
is something we really tried to work on the past couple of
weekends.”
They have strength like no other pair. The two Tigers have
deep chemistry. They are both from Arizona and they play
with fire and intensity. This allows them to click on the Court.
“We go for every ball and we want the best for each
other,” Greene-Agnew said.
Greene-Agnew said she has always looked up to Coppola
as a player. She even went on to say they are from the same
club, which is unheard of when both players are recruited
from out-of-state.
“Getting to play with her this year has been surreal. I
mean I never thought I’d get to step on the Court with Claire
and this year has been awesome,” Greene-Agnew said.
The two have trouble in some matches like every other
beach volleyball pair. The pair both touched on the fact that
their biggest weakness is communication. It is hard when
you are with a new teammate to have good communication,
but they have been working on it more lately and they have
seen results.
“It has been a little bit of a struggle at first, but ever since
we started practicing together it is getting better every single
day,” Greene-Agnew said.
One thing that amazes most people about beach
volleyball is a player’s ability to know who is going to get the
ball without even saying anything. This duo practices certain
scenarios in order to prepare for a match, so they know who
is covering the ball. In most sports, players have time to
communicate verbally, but not in beach volleyball.
“Russell, our head coach is always stopping us mid-play
and saying ‘okay now in that situation who do you want to
get that ball,’” Coppola said.
Coppola and Greene-Agnew are typically only able to
communicate in the match during time-outs and that is
when they are able to talk about certain plays. The two Tigers
are always diving into the sand on court two and will do
whatever it takes to win.
dynamic duo