LONG BEACH, Calif. – Tarleton State Beach Volleyball takes its talents out-of-state for the first time this season with four matches Saturday-Sunday against schools from the Golden State.
 
The Texans (4-4) look to bounce back from a 1-3 showing at the Javelina Beach Showdown two weekends ago. This weekend, they will take part in the LBSU Invitational, facing host-team Long Beach State and Concordia on Saturday and California State Bakersfield and Arizona on Sunday.
 
Long Beach State is first on the docket at 11 a.m. CT, who is off to a 6-4 start as part of the Big West Conference. LBSU is ranked No. 9 nationally, fresh off of a 3-1 home-showing at the Beach Invitational with wins over Mercer 4-1, Southern Miss 5-0 and Vanguard 5-0, plus a narrow defeat to Loyola Marymount 3-2. The group comes in battle-tested, having played five matches versus ranked opponents, dropping to No. 1 UCLA 5-0, No. 6 Cal Poly 3-2 and No. 4 USC 4-1, while outlasting No. 7 California 3-2 and No. 17 Washington 4-1.
 
Following the opener with Long Beach State, Tarleton State will turn its attention to Concordia at 1 p.m. CT Saturday. CUI has already played 15 matches this spring, standing at 9-6, and received one vote for the national rankings this week. The team enters Saturday four days removed from playing seven matches in five days, the most recent action on Tuesday, when they lost to UCLA 5-0 before flipping the table on Morehead State 5-0.
 
The action rolls on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT, as the Texans face California State Bakersfield, a team that, after weeks one and two, also received votes for the national rankings. The Roadrunners currently stand at 4-7, one week removed from a 2-1 homestand in the Bakersfield Beach Bash, with wins over The Master's University 4-1 and Hope International University 5-0 and a loss to aforementioned Concordia 3-2.
 
Finally, the Texans close out the LBSU Invitational with a match against Arizona on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The Wildcats sit even at 5-5 following a 4-1 loss to Cal Poly and a 3-2 win versus Coastal Carolina on March 7 in the Arizona State Tournament.
 
Tarleton State will face all four opponents for the first time in its young history.
 
Last time out at the Javelina Beach Showdown, Tarleton debuted three new pairings on Courts 2-4, pairing Amaya Brown with Grayson Schirpik on Court 2, Bella Parayno with Christian Mitchell on Court 3 and Sofia Bendele with Hayden Huber on Court 4. Court 5's standout duo of Charlize Ching and Olivia Fuentes finally lost their first match to Texas A&M Kingsville's Clara Presmanes-Garate and Elizabeth Williams 17-21 22-20 12-15 but went 3-1 in total on the weekend, improving to a team-best 7-1 on the season. Court 1's veteran duo of Allison Bryant and Emma Halcomb sit right behind at 5-3 after going 2-2 at the Javelina Beach Showdown. They swept Wayland Baptist's Emily Buchberger and Selma Sutaj 21-11 21-14 and Kingsville's Liana Huesca and Rylan Pollard 21-12 21-15, with losses to their opponents from UTEP and Colorado Mesa.
 
In Tarleton State's first match of the weekend at Long Beach State, the Texans will keep their No. 1 and No. 5 pairs together, while debuting Brown with Parayno at No. 2, Schirpik with Huber at No. 3 and Bendele with Mitchell at No. 4.
 
First-year head coach Dayna Masters leads Tarleton State into Long Beach with twice as many wins as the team had all of last season. The Texans will face their toughest competition yet, going against three teams with national recognition, one ranked in the top 10, and another from the Big 12.
 
Live scoring will be available for all matches at the LBSU Invitational. Live stats for Tarleton's match at Long Beach State is here, for its match against Concordia here, for its match against California State Bakersfield here, and for its match against Arizona here. Results and updates can be found at Tarleton State Beach Volleyball's social media accounts and www.tarletonsports.com.