Florida State University Athletics
Florida State
17-8,11-2ACC
Pitt
20-4,11-2ACC
Volleyball Upsets No. 6 Pittsburgh at Home
11/3/2023 11:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) – The Seminoles 17-8 (11-2) took on their fourth nationally ranked opponent this season against the No. 6 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers 20-4 (11-2) for a Friday night thriller in Tully. After a five-set battle, the Seminoles defeated the Panthers (25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 16-14) for their highest ranked win at home in program history.
Big Win?? pic.twitter.com/tB0Wh6vTWB
— FSU Volleyball (@FSU_Volleyball) November 4, 2023
The first set started off strong for the Seminoles, taking a 14-10 advantage led by the way of Sydney Conley and Khori Louis with a combined four kills. After a couple costly service errors by the Panthers, the Seminoles saw themselves with a three-point 20-17 advantage late in the set and went on a 5-1 run to close it out 25-18. Pittsburgh's Olivia Babcock led the set with four kills, while FSU's Audrey Koenig, and Sydney Cole each had three kills.
Set two started right where set one left off, with the Noles in total control. FSU took a 12-8 lead, led by Koenig with three early kills. The Panthers stood tough, closing the gap late to a 23-21 Seminole lead. The Noles pulled through taking the next two points, winning the set 25-21. Babcock again led all hitters in the set with five, while Koenig racked up four more of her own.
Looking to avoid the sweep, Pittsburgh grabbed their first lead in the third set 9-8, with the help of three straight Rachel Fairbanks assists. After being down 16-12, the Seminoles went on a 4-0 run to tie the set 16-16. The set continued its back-and-forth battle tied up at 23-23 until an FSU service error gave the Panthers a one-point advantage and Pittsburgh ended up taking the set 25-23. Babcock and Vale Vazquez Gomez led the Panthers in kills with four each.
The Seminoles found themselves down 9-3 early on in the fourth set before battling back to cut the deficit to two. The Panthers denied the Seminoles to close the gap any further as Babcock had three straight kills giving Pittsburgh a 17-10 advantage. The Panthers took set four 25-18. Babcock led the way with five kills in the set, giving her 18 total for the match.
In a match full of ties, the fifth set did not differ starting out 4-4. An FSU service error followed by a Vazquez Gomez kill gave the Panthers a 6-4 lead. A Maddie Snider kill gave the Noles life, followed by two Seminole blocks, and a Kenna Phelan ace to give the Noles a 12-11 lead. A Pittsburgh service error gave the Noles a 15-14 lead and a Conley block gave the Noles the match clinching point, taking the final set 16-14.
Pittsburgh's Olivia Babcock led the match with 19 kills, while Audrey Koenig led the Seminoles with 14 kills.
Rachel Fairbanks led the way for the Panthers with a match high of 39 assists. FSU's Andjelij Draskovic led the Noles with 23 assists.
The Noles defense held the Panthers to just a .074 hitting percentage ultimately leading them to the victory.
The Seminoles are back home for senior day on Sunday at 1p.m. against Virginia. The match will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra and live stats can be followed on Florida State Volleyball Website
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