Virginia Falls to No. 13 Florida State

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia volleyball team fell Friday night to No. 13 Florida State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-21), in Tully Gym. The win improves the Seminoles to 10-2 on the year and 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Cavaliers fall to 6-6 and 0-2 in the league.

Virginia was led offensively by junior Simone Asque, who landed nine kills, and freshman McKenzie Adams, who contributed seven.

Defensively, senior AJ Cushman led the way with a match-high 17 digs, while sophomore Jess O’Shoney had three blocks.

Jekaterina Stepanova paced Florida State with 13 kills, while Visnja Djurdjevic added eight kills to go with a team-high 15 digs. Marija Milosavljevic and Rachael Morgan shared the match-high in blocks, with four each.

Florida State gained control of the opening set with a 9-2 run that broke open an even 8-8 score and put the Seminoles up 17-10. Florida State went on to win eight of the next 11 points to earn a 25-13 first set victory.

The Cavaliers worked to take a lead early in the second set, pulling ahead 10-7. Virginia was unable to hold on to the advantage though, as Florida State knotted the score at 12. Back-to-back kills from the Cavaliers gave them another two-point advantage at 15-13, but the Seminoles rallied for a 6-1 run to pull ahead 19-16, before closing the frame on a 6-3 streak to take a 25-19 win.

A string of seven-straight points by the Seminoles plagued the Cavaliers midway through the third stanza. Falling behind 17-10, Virginia rallied to cut its deficit to three, at 19-16, forcing Florida State to call a timeout. But it wouldn’t be enough, as the Seminoles held on to win 25-21.

Virginia will return to action on Sunday, heading to Miami for a 1 p.m. match.