FSU sports information:
The No. 19 Florida State volleyball team (14-5, 6-3) fell in a five-set heartbreaker (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 32-34, 9-15) to No. 25 North Carolina (16-2, 8-1) on Friday night at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Noles got off to a great start in set one as the jumped out to an 11-5 lead, but the Tar Heels stormed back to tie the set at 13. The Noles were able to gradually increase their lead to 21-17, and Audrey Koenig finished off the set to give the Noles a 1-0 lead in the match.
The roles were reversed in set two as North Carolina was the one to jump out to an early lead as they led 12-6, but FSU slowly chipped away and tied the set at 17 thanks to a kill from Taylor Head. The Tar Heels created a little separation with a 21-19 lead, but a service error then an ace from Emery Dupes tied the set at 21. The Tar Heels closed the set on a 4-1 run to take the set.
Set three stayed close for the first half of the set until the Noles were able to create some separation to become the first team to 20 with a 20-16 lead. The Tar Heels closed the gap to one at 21-20, a couple of kills from Koenig and Iane Henke and two Tar Heel errors helped the Noles take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set four was an all-time classic as the teams went back and forth for the entire set. The teams continued to trade points, but it was the Tar Heels who prevailed with a 34-32 win to send the match to five sets for the sixth time in the last eight meetings between the two teams.
UNC used the momentum from the fourth set and jumped out to a 9-3 lead in set five, and the Noles were unable to get anything going as they fell 15-9 in the final set.
Koenig, Head and Khori Louis were all phenomenal for the Noles as they combined for 58 out of the Seminoles 66 kills in the match. Koenig led the way with 22 kills for her 16th consecutive match with 10 or more kills. Louis added 19 kills which was one kill short of her career high. Head added 17 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double double in the past five games. Koenig recorded a double double with 10 digs along with Loren Robertson who had 31 assists and 12 digs.
FSU will be back in action at Duke on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACCNX.
