The fourth-ranked Florida State beach volleyball team (4-3) lost a hard fought 3-2 match to No.1 USC (6-0) on Thursday.
“It was another tough loss today,” head coach Brooke Niles said. “It could have gone either way. We are battling out here in Hawaii, but our schedule just gets toughertomorrow. We have to go back, watch video, recover and get ready to compete again tomorrow.”
In the first set of matches, senior Sierra Sanchez and freshman Molly McBain fell in straight sets, 21-18, 21-19 on court four. Redshirt junior Katie Horton and redshirt freshman Eva Torruella came up just short as they battled through three sets and lost 16-14 in the final set.
On court one the Seminole pair of graduate senior Leigh Andrew and sophomore Brooke Kuhlman lost in straight sets (21-14, 21-17) to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead and match point. On court two and three the Noles were able to pull out two straight set victories with junior Vanessa Freire and freshman Francesca Goncalves winning 21-19, 21-17, and Junior Victoria Paranagua and sophomore Macy Jerger winning 22-20, 21-17. This marked the seventh straight win to start the season for Paranagua and Jerger, this one coming on heals of winning the CCSA Pair of the Week award for last week.
The Seminoles return to action tomorrow as they play Utah (4:15 p.m. ET), No. 7 Arizona (6:45 p.m. ET) and No. 5 Hawaii (10:30 p.m. ET) to wrap up the East Meets West Invitational.
No. 4 Florida State 4, No. Southern California 1 – Honolulu, Hawaii
#1: Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes (USC) def. Leigh Andrew/Brooke Kuhlman (FSU) – 21-14, 21-17
#2: Vanessa Freire/Francesca Goncalves (FSU) def. Sophie Bukovec/Allie Wheeler (USC) – 21-19, 21-17
#3: Macy Jerger/Victoria Paranagua (FSU) def. Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (USC) – 22-20, 21-19
#4: Abril Bustamante/Joy Dennis (USC) def. Sierra Sanchez/Molly McBain (FSU) – 21-18, 24-22
#5: Jenna Belton/Jo Kremer (USC) def. Katie Horton/Eva Torruella (FSU)– 21-13, 15-21, 16-14
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1*, 2, 5
For more information on Florida State beach volleyball, check out:
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News courtesy of Florida State Athletics.
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