TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 3 Florida State beach volleyball team (14-4, 6-1 CCSA) capped off a perfect weekend with a 4-1 win over No. 10 Stetson (11-4).
“This weekend was great because we were home,” said head coach Brooke Niles. “Teams played us really tough and we battled. Stetson is a top-10 team and they have had a lot of big upsets every weekend, so that match was a big challenge for us. We have some new pairings and that was a challenge for us because we have not had a lot of time to practice them against competition. Our team fought really hard and I am really proud of them today.”
The Noles jumped out of the gates hot, gathering straight-set wins from pairs four and five in the first wave of competition. Juniors Molly McBain and Payton Caffrey finished off their weekend with their second win together in the four’s slot. The Seminole duo won the first set 21-9 before taking the second set and the match 21-15.
Senior Macy Jerger and freshman Kate Privett gave the Noles a 2-0 lead with their third win together of the season and third of the weekend. They jumped out to an early 14-7 lead before turning that into a 21-13 first set win. In the second set, they fell behind 15-14 but battled back winning seven of the last 12 games to take the second set 21-19.
“We realized that we have all the pieces we just need to find the right pairs,” said Niles. “We definitely can compete with anybody.”
Florida State jumped out to take two of three first sets in the second wave of matches. For the third time this weekend, sophomores Madison Fitzpatrick and Alaina Chacon clinched the match for the Seminoles at the one’s position. They took the first set 21-17 and the second 21-15 on their way to giving FSU a 3-0 lead.
Grad transfer Payton Rund and redshirt junior Sara Putt gave the Garnet and Gold a 4-0 lead with a straight-set win on court four. They fell behind early in the first set before coming back to take it 21-18. In the second set, they jumped out to an early lead and kept it on their way to taking the set 21-15.
Stetson finished off the match with their only point of the match on court two.
“We are so competitive at every spot,” said Niles. “The message to this team is that we compete so hard at practice for spots, that sometimes when we play we relax a little bit. Those spots we compete for in practice we have to transition into the games and compete out there as well. We are doing a great job and I am really proud of this team, especially with so many new people in the lineup.”
Florida State is back in action next weekend as they head to Miami to compete in the FIU Surf-N-Turf Invitational. FSU will play Grand Canyon and Tulane on Friday, March 29th and UCLA and FIU on Saturday, March 30th.
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#3 Florida State 4, #10 Stetson 1
- Alaina Chacon/Madison Fitzpatrick (FS) def. S. Helland-Hansen/Carly Perales (STET) 21-17, 21-15
- Sammee Thomas/Darby Dunn (STET) def. Brooke Kuhlman/Morgan Chacon (FS) 21-12, 21-23, 15-8
- Payton Rund/Sara Putt (FS) def. Rachel Noble/Ana Costa (STET) 21-18, 21-15
- Molly McBain/Payton Caffrey (FS) def. Samantha Harris/Julie Varga (STET) 21-9, 21-15
- Macy Jerger/Kate Privett (FS) def. Rebecca Ingram/Quinci Birker (STET) 21-13, 21-19
Ext. Ashley Robert/Avery Poppinga (FS) vs. Alexa Richardson/Yasmin Kuck (STET) 25-23, 19-21, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (4,5,1,3,2);
