Match Stats Florida State defeats Virginia 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-16) Florida State improves to 16-3 Virginia drops to 4-17 Press... ArchivePhoto via Florida State Athletics
Florida State defeats Virginia 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-16)
Florida State improves to 16-3
Virginia drops to 4-17
Press Releases
Florida State:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Senior Katie Horton recorded her 17th career double-double and fifth of the season (17 digs, 11 kills) to guide 12th-ranked Florida State past Virginia by scores of 27-25, 25-22 and 25-16 as the Seminoles moved to 16-3 overall and 9-1 in ACC play following a pair of sweeps this week.
Horton, who reached double figure kills for the fourth time in the last five outings, completed her fourth double-double performance against an ACC foe in 2016. Joining her among the offensive leaders were Christina Ambrose (eight kills), Milica Kubura(seven kills) and Hailey Luke, who handed out a team-high 14 assists.
The multi-faceted Horton enjoyed her 10th double-digit dig outing of the season and along with 11 digs by Cecile Woie, the Seminoles recorded 48 digs as a unit. Meanwhile, the front row trio of Mara Green (six assisted blocks), Natasha Calkins(four) and Melanie Keil (three) limited Virginia to a .124 attack percentage.
Three kills and a service ace from Keil allowed the Seminoles to assume a 9-5 advantage as Virginia was forced to burn an early timeout for the third straight set. However, in contrast to the first two sets, Florida State did not allow a rally by the Cavaliers as timely kills from Horton, Green and Kubura kept the Virginia offense at bay and resulted in a 17-11 Seminole lead.
Horton refused to let the Florida State offense slip, driving home three kills in a seven-point stretch, as the Seminoles assumed a 22-14 advantage. The combination kills by Kubura and Ambrose and a service error by Kelsey Miller allowed the Noles to post their 23rd sweep of Virginia.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to win tonight,” said head coach Chris Poole. “The encouraging part is that we stepped up in the third set and played much better. We seemed flat in the first two sets and kept surrendering large leads. I am glad that we got another road victory because we have two huge road matches again next weekend (Louisville, Notre Dame) and we need to have a great week of practice to be prepared.”
Behind four kills from Kubura and an assisted block by the tandem of Keil and Calkins, the Seminoles enjoyed a 10-6 lead to open the second frame. Florida State maintained its six-point edge, capitalizing on three unforced Cavalier errors and kills from Green and Horton, forcing the second Virginia timeout.
The Cavaliers regrouped and came through with a pair of blocks by Kat Young along with kills from Harley Sebastian and Haley Kole to pull even at 16. Florida State regained the momentum, and the lead, behind a 5-0 run that included a kill by Keil and a service ace from Bozena Culo.The back-and-forth battle continued, with Virginia trimming the deficit to one, 23-22, before a Kubura slam coupled with an assisted block by the tandem of Ambrose and Green closed out the victory.
Two kills and a service ace by Horton provided Florida State with a 10-6 advantage in the opening stages of the first set. The Cavaliers used their first timeout to regroup, converting kills by Kiley Banker and Jasmine Burton to knot the score at 11-all.
With the two units unable to establish more than a two-point advantage, despite two kills from Green and three off the hand of Jasmine Burton, they reached a 22-all deadlock after six ties. Haley Kole recorded back-to-back kills to put Virginia at match point, but two unforced errors and a strike by Ambrose moved the Seminoles in front by one, 25-24. A kill by Young pulled the score even, but consecutive unforced errors by the Cavaliers allowed Florida State to complete the two-point win.
Virginia:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team fell 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-16) to No. 12 Florida State on Friday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
“I thought we played really hard and scrambled to make some tough plays tonight against a good team,” head coach Dennis Hohensheltsaid. “They are a little bit more physical at times and that caught up to us. I am proud of their effort and we are going to come back and be ready to play tomorrow night.”
Virginia (4-17, 1-8 ACC) led Florida State (16-3, 9-1 ACC) in kills (41-38) and digs (56-48), but the Seminoles had the edge in hitting percentage (.181-.124), blocks (9-6) and service aces (5-2).
Seniors Haley Kole (Tallahasee, Fla.) and Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) led the Cavaliers with 11 kills apiece. Kole recorded her second-straight double-double with 12 digs. Freshman Jennifer Wineholt guided the UVA offense with 36 assists.
Senior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) led the back line with 15 digs and redshirt freshman Kat Young had a team-high three blocks on the night.
After Florida State went up 5-1 in the first set, Virginia used a 3-0 run to cut it to 5-4. The Seminoles stretched their lead out to 11-7 when UVA mounted a 6-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. The set remained close with four ties before Florida State scored two-straight to take a 19-17 lead. The Cavaliers came back to tie it up at 21-21 and then took the lead on a kill by Burton. Back-to-back kills by Kole gave UVA a 24-22 advantage, but Florida State knotted the set at 24-24 and went on to take the first set 27-25.
In the second set, the Cavaliers were down 16-11 when they put together a 5-0 run that included kills by Kole and sophomore Harley Sebastian (Atlanta, Ga.) along with blocks for Wineholt and Young to tie it up at 16-16. The Seminoles struck back with a 5-0 run, but UVA stayed close and fought to cut the lead to one, 23-22, after a kill by Burton. FSU held on to win the second set 25-22 and lead 2-0 at the break.
Virginia took a 4-2 lead after kills by Kole, Burton, Young and Wineholt to open the third set. Florida State then took the lead 6-4 with a 4-0 run. The Seminoles stayed in control to take the third set 25-16 and secure the match.
Virginia will be back in action Saturday when it hosts Miami and 7 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.
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