FSU sports information:
Staving off a late match point, Florida State Volleyball endured a tough opening contest at Virginia Tech and managed to win in five sets (25-20, 20-25, 15-25, 25-23, 19-17) in front of a fired-up Cassell Coliseum on Friday night in Blacksburg, Va.
The Seminoles (7-6, 1-0) have now won 11 consecutive matches against the Hokies (10-2, 0-1), and managed to get the win without the services of outside hitter Audrey Rothman once again due to injury.
Junior middle blocker Kiari Robey stepped up mightily in the victory, totaling 12 blocks for the most by a Seminole since Taryn Knuth had 16 vs. Clemson on Feb. 13, 2021. Junior middle blocker Khori Louis was nearly unstoppable with 15 kills and a .481 hitting percentage.
Florida State registered a season-high 15 blocks against Virginia Tech, also getting five apiece from senior Sydney Conley and freshman Kyleene Filimaua.
Freshman right-side hitter Maddie Snider came through again for FSU, getting 10 kills and three blocks. She had three crucial kills in the decisive fifth set, including a thundering shot when FSU faced match point by the Hokies trailing 17-16.
The fifth set was a wild one, as there were 10 tied scores and five lead changes. The two teams switched sides with Virginia Tech taking an 8-6 lead, but FSU managed to stay alive and tie the set at 8-8 on a kill from Snider and block assists from Conley and Robey.
A service ace by Jelli Draskovic, her fifth of the match, gave the Seminoles a 9-8 lead. Virginia Tech then ran off three consecutive points to regain the lead at 11-9. FSU then won four of the next five rallies to go up 13-12, and had its first match point at 14-13 on a kill from Louis.
Virginia Tech stayed relentless, fighting off three match points from FSU, with the last being at 16-15, before coming back with one of its own that was denied by Snider to make it 17-17. The match came to a close on back-to-back challenges, with FSU winning one that reversed the score from 17-18 and 18-17 after replay showed a Virginia Tech attacker hit the antenna.
The match ended on an attack error by the Hokies down the line, which was then challenged and upheld as it did not touch an FSU blocker.
Freshman Kenna Phelan led FSU with 23 assists while freshman Ella Gaona had a strong performance with 16 digs.
The Seminoles return with a match at Wake Forest on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Staving off a late match point, Florida State Volleyball endured a tough opening contest at Virginia Tech and managed to win in five sets (25-20, 20-25, 15-25, 25-23, 19-17) in front of a fired-up Cassell Coliseum on Friday night in Blacksburg, Va.
The Seminoles (7-6, 1-0) have now won 11 consecutive matches against the Hokies (10-2, 0-1), and managed to get the win without the services of outside hitter Audrey Rothman once again due to injury.
Junior middle blocker Kiari Robey stepped up mightily in the victory, totaling 12 blocks for the most by a Seminole since Taryn Knuth had 16 vs. Clemson on Feb. 13, 2021. Junior middle blocker Khori Louis was nearly unstoppable with 15 kills and a .481 hitting percentage.
Florida State registered a season-high 15 blocks against Virginia Tech, also getting five apiece from senior Sydney Conley and freshman Kyleene Filimaua.
Freshman right-side hitter Maddie Snider came through again for FSU, getting 10 kills and three blocks. She had three crucial kills in the decisive fifth set, including a thundering shot when FSU faced match point by the Hokies trailing 17-16.
The fifth set was a wild one, as there were 10 tied scores and five lead changes. The two teams switched sides with Virginia Tech taking an 8-6 lead, but FSU managed to stay alive and tie the set at 8-8 on a kill from Snider and block assists from Conley and Robey.
A service ace by Jelli Draskovic, her fifth of the match, gave the Seminoles a 9-8 lead. Virginia Tech then ran off three consecutive points to regain the lead at 11-9. FSU then won four of the next five rallies to go up 13-12, and had its first match point at 14-13 on a kill from Louis.
Virginia Tech stayed relentless, fighting off three match points from FSU, with the last being at 16-15, before coming back with one of its own that was denied by Snider to make it 17-17. The match came to a close on back-to-back challenges, with FSU winning one that reversed the score from 17-18 and 18-17 after replay showed a Virginia Tech attacker hit the antenna.
The match ended on an attack error by the Hokies down the line, which was then challenged and upheld as it did not touch an FSU blocker.
Freshman Kenna Phelan led FSU with 23 assists while freshman Ella Gaona had a strong performance with 16 digs.
The Seminoles return with a match at Wake Forest on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
