Noles Take Down Tulane, Cal Poly, Fall to LSU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The No. 3/4 Florida State beach volleyball team went 2-1 in the first day of the 2019 season, earning a pair of ranked wins against the No. 18 Green Wave and No. 6 Mustangs, but falling to the No. 7 Tigers at the Home2 Suites by Hilton-Tallahassee State Capitol Invitational.
Florida State saw a number of new players in the lineup in the first weekend of the season, as graduate transfer Payton Rund played at the No. 1 position with Brooke Kuhlman throughout the day, freshman Kate Privett teamed up with Molly McBain and sophomore Avery Poppinga stayed consistent with Macy Jerger at No. 5. FSU indoor star Payton Caffrey also made her beach debut on Saturday, playing with Sara Putt at the No. 4 position. Freshmen Jenna Johnson and Lexi McKeown both made their collegiate debuts in exhibition matches.The Seminoles started off with a conference win against No. 18 Tulane, and picked up another huge ranked win against No. 6 Cal Poly in the afternoon. FSU is now 2-1 against teams from California in Tallahassee, as the Seminoles went 1-1 against Pepperdine in 2017.

FSU’s loss to LSU in the Seminoles’ final match of the day marked FSU’s first conference loss since they joined the CCSA in 2016, and first loss to a team east of California since head coach Brooke Niles joined the program in the same year.

The team returns to the court tomorrow afternoon to take on No. 9 South Carolina at 3:15 and Tampa at 5:00.

Full Tournament Schedule/Results

Match #1: No. 3 Florida State def. No. 18 Tulane, 5-0

1. Brooke Kuhlman/Payton Rund (FS) def. Kaylie McHugh/Eva Torruella (TU) 21-18, 16-21, 15-8
2. Alaina Chacon/Madison Fitzpatrick (FS) def. Lauren Orlich/Ashley Delgado (TU) 21-17, 21-13
3. Molly McBain/Kate Privett (FS) def. Rio Frohoff/Haley Gibson (TU) 21-10, 21-14
4. Sara Putt/Payton Caffrey (FS) def. Tarin Mergener/Addison Hermstad (TU) 14-21, 21-19, 15-12
5. Macy Jerger/Avery Poppinga (FS) def. Morgan Esters/Gabriella Becerra (TU) 21-15, 21-16
6. Ext. Ali Eager/Jenna Johnson (FS) def. Ellie Leitko/Kilani Daane (TU) 21-15, 21-18

Order of finish: 6,5,4,2,3,1

Florida State started out strong in the first match of the tournament, quickly rolling through the first sets in the No. 4 and 5 positions and the exhibition match. The Seminoles earned the first two team points with a pair of wins in the first round, and clinched the win with a quick 21-17, 21-13 from the sophomore duo in the No. 2 position.

The win kept the Seminoles’ streak of season opening wins alive, as the Seminoles have now never lost the first match of the season in program history.

Match #2: No. 3 Florida State def. No. 6 Cal Poly, 4-1

1. Brooke Kuhlman/Payton Rund (FS) def. Crissy Jones/Tiadora Miric (CPBVB) 21-18, 19-21, 16-14
2. Emily Sonny/Torrey Van Winden (CPBVB) def. Alaina Chacon/Madison Fitzpatrick (FS) 21-17, 21-19
3. Molly McBain/Kate Privett (FS) def. Vanessa Roscoe/Macy Gordon (CPBVB) 21-12, 21-17
4. Sara Putt/Payton Caffrey (FS) def. Jayelin Lombard/Kassandra Wright (CPBVB) 21-15, 21-10
5. Macy Jerger/Avery Poppinga (FS) def. Heather Pembroke/Sjea Anderson (CPBVB) 21-15, 21-18
6. Ext. Lexi McKeown/Ashley Robert (FS) def. Eleonore Johansen/Brayden Gruenewald (CPBVB) 22-20, 21-10

Order of finish: Doubles 6,4,5,2,3,1

FSU saw the highest ranked opponent it will see this weekend in its second match of the day, as the Seminoles picked up a huge 4-1 win over Cal Poly. While the Mustangs’ dominant pair of Sonny/Van Winden earned a win in the second position, Florida State was able to close out wins on every other court to finish out the win.

Match #3: No. 7 LSU def. No. 3 Florida State, 3-2

1. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) def. Payton Rund/Brooke Kuhlman (FS) 21-17, 21-16
2. Olivia Powers/Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope (LSU) def. Molly McBain/Kate Privett (FS) 21-11, 21-15
3. Alaina Chacon/Madison Fitzpatrick (FS) def. Toni Rodriguez/Kelli Agnew (LSU) 21-23, 21-15, 20-18
4. Sara Putt/Payton Caffrey (FS) def. Taryn Kloth/Maddie Ligon (LSU) 21-13, 21-13
5. Allison Coens/Hunter Domanski (LSU) def. Macy Jerger/Avery Poppinga (FS) 21-23, 21-19, 15-8
6. Ext. Olivia Beyer/Megan Davenport (LSU) def. Jenna Johnson/Nikki Esposito (FS) 11-21, 21-19, 7-4

Order of finish: 6,4,5,1,2,3

The Seminoles’ match against No. 7 LSU was the closest it saw all day, as the Tigers retaliated with a win at No. 5 after Putt/Caffrey earned the first team point at No. 4, bringing the score to a 1-1 tie. Rund/Kuhlman fell to Coppola/Nuss in the first position, giving LSU a 2-1 lead, while Chacon/Fitzpatrick came back to win the second set and force a third. McBain/Privett fell at No. 2 to give LSU the match, but the two’s came back to earn a second team point for the Seminoles.

Match #4: No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 9 South Carolina

Feb. 24 | 3:15 pm
Live Stats

Another top conference competitor, the Gamecocks and the Seminoles will meet for the 13thtime in program history on Sunday afternoon. While the Seminoles are undefeated against the Gamecocks all-time, FSU has also never surrendered a single point to South Carolina when playing in Tallahassee. The 12-match series is longer than any of FSU’s series against other CCSA teams, and FSU has only seen two other teams this many times – UCLA and Southern Cal.

Match #5: Tampa

Feb. 24 | 5:00 pm
Live Stats

The Seminoles have never met the Spartans before, as Tampa’s program only started last season. In 2018, the Spartans went 14-10 in their inaugural season.

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