Match Results
- #22 Florida State def. Virginia 3-1, (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-14)
- FSU improves to 7-2 (1-0 ACC), Virginia falls to 4-8 (0-1 ACC)
- Tallahassee, Florida
- Attendance: 1,182
- Match Stats
Florida State downed Virginia in four sets to open up ACC play at home, with Milica Kubura leading the front with 20 kills and a .704 hitting clip. Kubura also added a team and match-best five blocks in the win, moving the Seminoles to a 7-2 overall record and 1-0 in ACC play.
Defense was the strong point for the Seminoles in the win, picking up 47 digs in the match while keeping some needed plays alive to keep FSU in contention. The first set saw a strong front from Virginia, but the Seminoles attacked tough back to build up a .259 hitting percentage in set one while holding the Cavaliers to .167. FSU’s defense was tight, recording 11 of their digs and three blocks in set one alone.
Set two saw a stronger Seminole offense, hitting an outstanding .452 in the set with 17 kills and only three errors. While FSU had a high hitting percentage, Virginia wasn’t all that far off, posting a .371 hitting clip in set two.
The Seminoles led for the majority of set three but were unable to hold on, dropping set three and forcing another set. After the third set slump for the Seminoles, they came out on fire in the fourth set, with Kubura putting down six of her kills on eight swings for a .750 hitting clip in the fourth set alone. Junior Christina Ambrose also had a hot hand, slamming down five kills on six attacks for a .833 hitting performance.
Ambrose ended with 10 kills for the Seminoles while freshman Taryn Knuth slammed down 13 kills on a .455 hitting clip. In the backcourt, Cecilie Woie picked up 12 digs.
Leading Virginia was Kiley Banker and Jelena Novakovic with 14 and 11 kills, respectively.
A big win to open ACC play for @FSU_Volleyball I went one-on-one with Taryn Knuth about the win! #Noles pic.twitter.com/tU7nWlK9GP
— LayneHerdt (@LayneHerdt) September 23, 2017
Press Release
Courtesy of Florida State Athletics
One of the best hitting percentages the team has seen this season led to the No. 19 Florida State volleyball team’s four set victory over the Virginia Cavaliers. The Seminoles took the first, second and fourth sets to take down the Cavs on Friday (Sept. 22) night.
In the first set, the Cavaliers put pressure on the net, but the Seminoles’ .259 hitting percentage in the set was enough to keep it ahead throughout the match. Florida State’s defense kept the Seminoles in the set, recording 11 digs and three team blocks to hold the Cavs to just .167 hitting.
In the second set Florida State stepped up its game on offense, hitting .452 with 17 kills and only three errors. While the Seminoles’ offense was firing on all cylinders, the Cavaliers’ offense wasn’t falling too far behind, as it finished the set with a .371 hitting percentage.
While the Seminoles led through most of the third set, it was the Cavaliers’ consistency that pushed it ahead in the end, as Virginia let Florida State make the mistakes. While FSU held UVA at set point for two points, the Cavs took the set 25-23.
In the fourth set, five different Seminoles earned at least one kill with no errors. Senior Milica Kubura led with six kills on eight attacks (.750), followed by junior Christina Ambrose with five kills on six attacks (.833). The Seminoles saw one of the best hitting percentages in a set so far this season at .609, which helped it stay ahead of the Cavs and get the 25-14 victory to win the match.
Quoting Freshman Middle Blocker Taryn Knuth
On her first ACC win…
“It was really big, we wanted to come out on a high note and we have really high expectations for ourselves this season. While it wasn’t the cleanest, we got the win and I think we can learn a lot from this to take into practice and just get better.”
On her confidence in her playing abilities as the season progresses…
“Yeah I do feel more comfortable. I think we’re spreading our offense great and especially getting everyone involved, and I know Deja had some really good kills too. Just creating more options and being harder to defend is going to be a really big thing in the ACC this year, and I felt like I contributed a lot and I’m just going to continue to grow and try to do my best on the court this year.”
On how important it is to start conference play with a win…
“It’s very important to start conference play with a win. This builds confidence going in and our team is still learning to grow and getting better every day, but certainly this win is a great way to start things off.”
Notes
- Florida State improves to a 38-14 all-time record over Auburn.
- The Seminoles have now won the last nine matches in the series between the two teams.
- This is FSU’s third four-set win in the last five matches of the series.
- Annie Tietjens made her FSU debut with four assists, one service ace and one dig.
- Brianne Burkert tied her career high and set her season high with three service aces. This is the fifth time she accomplished this, the last time was vs. Wake Forest (11.20/15)
- Milica Kubura set two season high records with 20 kills (previous was 19 vs. Auburn) and a .704 hitting percentage (previous was .632 vs. TCU).
Up Next for the Seminoles
The No. 20 Florida State volleyball team will host the Virginia Tech Hokies at home in the second match of its conference opening weekend. The match will take place at Tully Gym on Sunday, Sept. 24th at 1:00 pm.
For more information, visit Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Volleyball), Twitter (FSU_Volleyball) and Instagram (FSUvolleyball).
Press Release
Courtesy of Virginia Athletics
The Virginia volleyball team (4-8, 0-1 ACC) fell 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-14) in the ACC opener at No. 19 Florida State (7-2, 1-0 ACC) on Friday evening at Tully Gymnasium in Tallahassee, Fla.
Sophomore Kiley Banker (West Lafayette, Ind.) sparked the Virginia offense with 14 kills on a .321 hitting percentage, while sophomore Jelena Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) added 11 kills. Florida State was led by Milica Kubura with 20 kills.
“The team put forth a strong showing tonight,” head coach Aaron Smithsaid. “We struggled to slow down Kubura, who is one of the best offensive players in the conference. We were able to execute things offensively that we worked on all week. I was happy to see us get our middle blockers and right side hitters involved in the offense and we will continue doing that as we look forward to Miami on Sunday.”
Freshman Megan Wilson (Brookeville, Md.) finished with five of UVA’s 10 service aces. Banker and sophomore Chino Anukwuem (East Hanover, N.J.) each had two blocks, including the set-winner in the third. Sophomore Kelsey Miller (Crestwood, Ky.) had 12 digs to lead the team.
Virginia hit .242 on the night to Florida State’s .369 attack percentage. The Cavaliers led with 10 aces to six. FSU had the advantage in digs (47-39) and blocks (7-3).
Virginia came out strong with a 5-2 lead in the first set. A kill by Banker followed by an error for the Seminoles put UVA in the lead 8-4. Florida State had a 3-0 run, but a kill by Anukwuem kept UVA in front 9-7. FSU then used another 3-0 run to take the lead, but Virginia responded right back with a run of its own, including back-to-back aces by Wilson, to go ahead 12-10. FSU scored seven of the next eight points to lead 17-13. The Cavaliers cut the lead back to one several times, but the Seminoles took the first set 25-22.
FSU took the early lead in the second set, going up 5-2. The Seminoles continued to lead throughout the set. UVA made it close after being down 22-16, mounting a 4-0 run to cut the lead to two, but FSU held on for the 25-21 win.
In the third set, FSU scored the first three points but Virginia fought back to tie the set up at 5-5 on Wilson’s third ace of the night. The teams traded points until a 4-1 run put Florida State in the lead, 14-10. Virginia responded with a 5-0 run that included two aces and a kill for Wilson to regain the lead, 15-14. There were then five ties as the teams were knotted up 21-21. Kills by Anukwuem and Banker followed by an ace for sophomore Jane Horner(Mission Viejo, Calif.) gave UVA a 24-21 lead. FSU cut it to 24-23, but the Cavaliers held on for the 25-23 win on a block by Banker and Anukwuem to send it to a fourth set.
Virginia had a 2-1 lead in the beginning of the fourth set, but Florida State slowly began to pull away. The Seminoles went on to take the fourth set 25-14 to win the match.
Virginia will remain on the road as it travels to Coral Gables, Fla. to play Miami on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Knight Complex.
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