OMAHA, Neb. — The Florida State volleyball team (7-1) took home its fifth-straight victory Thursday night with a 3-0 win (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) over Nebraska-Omaha (4-2) in the first game of the Omaha Invite at Baxter Arena. Andjelija Draskovic also surpassed 1,000 career assists in the first set of the match. On her 22nd birthday, Draskovic became the 20th Seminole to surpass the 1,000 mark in assists.
In the first set, the two teams battled back and forth with the Mavericks taking a 14-11 lead. Back-to-back kills from Khori Louis got the Noles within one then an Emma Clothier kill gave the Noles the 18-17 lead. The Noles would outscore the Mavs 7-4 to take the first match with a Sydney Conley kill putting the finishing touch on the set.
The Noles jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Mavericks climbed back to take an 8-7 lead. That would be the last time the Mavericks would have the lead for the rest of the set as the Noles scored four out of the final five points to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Noles had to claw back in the third set as they were kept at distance for the majority of the set. Down 19-17, the Noles rattled off five-straight points thanks to two aces by Audrey Koenig to take a 22-19 lead. The Mavericks tied the set up at 23, but a kill by Khori Louis and a block from Audrey Rothman ended the threat to give the Noles the sweep.
The Noles were able to spread the wealth with Rothman leading the team with nine kills while Louis and Emily Ryan each added eight kills. Koenig added three aces for the Noles while Clothier, Louis and Ryan each added four blocks.
“I was happy to get the win here tonight. It wasn’t as clean as I had hoped. We have a big challenge tomorrow night, and we will need to be better,” Head Coach Chris Poole said.
