Florida State volleyball moves past Jacksonville

Release from Florida State Athletics:

The No. 8/6 Florida State (29-2) indoor volleyball team put up a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-21, 25-15) over Jacksonville (19-15) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Tully Gym.

“We’re excited to be able to get this first round win,” FSU head coach Chris Poole said.  “Hopefully the girls will be relaxed and ready to go for tomorrow. Jacksonville did a great job each time we’d try to get a lead on them, they’d fight to be able to come back, and that’s the sign of a good team. Obviously they’ve worked hard to get there.”

Junior outside hitter Nicole Walch led the attack with 14 kills, hitting for .448, adding nine digs. It was the fourth-straight match the Seminoles hit over .300 as a team, hitting for .337 percent.

“I think it’s important to come out strong,” Walch said. “We’ve been working hard at coming out and just being successful in the beginning and trying to finish it all the way through. I think it’s very important for us to do that, just continue on with the tournament, and not take each team for granted and come out strong in every match.”

The Seminoles registered 11.5 team blocks with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sarah Burrington leading the charge with seven block assists, adding eight kills. Redshirt junior Mercedes Vaughn tallied four block assists, while junior middle blocker Kiara Wright, and Walch each contributed three assists each. Wright also added nine kills.

Senior setter Sarah Wickstrom produced 18 assists, while sophomore setter Hailey Luke tallied 15.

Junior outside hitter Katie Horton was under 13 digs, while redshirt senior libero Katie Mosher put up 11 and two aces.

After leading by one early in the first, the Seminoles went on a 7-0 run to go up 14-7 before the Dolphins sided out. After adding two kills, the Seminoles answered with a strike from junior outside hitter Karlie Hauer. Following the media timeout, FSU poured on another 3-0 charge for the 18-9 lead.

Junior defensive specialist Laura Dadowski subbed in to serve for Burrington and fueled a 4-0 run that included an ace to tee up set point, 24-12. The Dolphins sided out, but Walch put it away for the 1-0 match lead following a 25-13 first set victory.

In the second, Jacksonville jumped out in front with a one-point edge, but the Seminoles went on an 8-4 charge with kills from Wright, Walch and Horton for the 15-10 lead. After the media break, FSU added a pair of blocks to go up 17-10 before the Dolphins sided out.

Florida State extended its lead to ten, 21-11 before Jacksonville used a timeout.

Off the break, the Dolphins put up a 6-1 stretch and Poole would use a timeout up 22-17. Burrington put down a kill out of the break, but Jacksonville continued to chip away at the lead and a service error would tee up set point, 24-19.

The Dolphins shook off two set points before sending a service long for the 25-21 second set and 2-0 match lead.

Jacksonville pulled within one early in the third, before the Seminoles went on a 5-0 barrage behind a strike from Burrington and three-straight off the hand of Walch for the 12-6 lead, forcing the Dolphins to call timeout.

After, the Seminoles continued to run their offense at a fast pace, stretching the lead to 17-8 before the Dolphins used another timeout.

Off the break, FSU continued to fire, building an 11 point lead, 20-9 before closing out the match, 25-15 for its fifth-straight 3-0 sweep and 27th consecutive victory on its home floor.

“We have a lot of confidence, a lot of depth in our team,” Poole said.  “Some of the players aren’t playing against each other, and you see that out there, but they’re pushing us every day, any of the subs are, so we feel like we’ve got some players that can do some good things.”

The Florida State Seminoles will take on Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 7 p.m. in Tully Gym for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 in Seattle.

The Crimson Tide made it to the second round after outlasting Samford 3-2 in a five-set thriller prior to the match.