Seminoles Return Home to Host No. 10 SMU and No. 4 Pitt

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida State volleyball team (8-5, 2-2) returns home for the first in nearly a month as it hosts No. 10 SMU (10-4, 2-2) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and No. 4 Pitt (12-2, 4-0) on Sunday at 3 p.m. Friday's match will be on ACCNX while Sunday's match will be on ESPN.

Seminoles Set to Host Pair of Top 10 Teams

Florida State returns home for the first time since September 15 as it hosts No. 10 SMU on Friday night and No. 4 Pitt on Sunday afternoon.
The Noles will be looking for its first victory over a top 10 team since November 3, 2023, when the Seminoles defeated No. 6 Pitt at Tully Gym. A win against the Panthers would be FSU's highest ranked win at home in program history.
FSU is in the middle of a stretch where it will play three consecutive top 10 teams with No. 10 SMU, No. 4 Pitt and No. 6 Stanford.
SMU is 10-4 this season and 2-2 in ACC play. The Mustangs have ranked wins over No. 20 Baylor and No. 8 Texas A&M. The Mustangs lost twice to No. 5 Pitt, to No. 3 Kentucky and No. 14 Purdue.
After dropping the first two matches of the season to No. 1 Nebraska and No. 16 Florida, Pitt has rallied to win 12 consecutive matches including wins over No. 25 TCU, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 13 Penn State and two wins over No. 11 SMU.

Series History

SMU and FSU will meet for just the fourth time on Friday evening with two of those meetings coming last season. FSU will be looking for its first victory over SMU in program history.
Pitt leads the all-time series 14-6 over the Seminoles, but FSU took down the Panthers last time Pitt came to Tallahassee in 2023.

Last Time Out

The Noles split the past weekend's matches at Wake Forest and NC State.
The Noles took down Wake Forest in five sets as they were led by three freshmen in Lexie Mason, Nenu Kpea and Victoria David who all had career matches for the Noles.
The Noles were unable to pull out a five-set victory at NC State on Sunday. Kyleene Filimaua led the way with 20 kills which was the second-most in her career.

Henke Proving to be One of Top Players in ACC

Iane Henke was looking to take a big step in her second year with the Garnet and Gold and has done so in her senior season.
Henke leads the team with 177 kills and is averaging 4.43 kills per set.
Henke ranks fourth in the ACC in kills per set and points per set and fifth in the ACC in aces per set.
Henke's 5.20 points per set and 4.43 kills per set are also top 25 marks in the country.
Henke has recorded back-to-back matches with 20 or more kills. Henke is the first Nole since Audrey Koenig in 2023 to have back-to-back 20+ kill matches.
Henke had a career-high 21 kills against Georgia Tech. Henke is one of two players in the ACC to record 20 or more kills in a three-set match this season.
In the four matches against North Florida, USF, South Carolina and Oklahoma, Henke tallied 15 or more kills in all four of those matches while hitting over .300 in all those matches. Henke is the first FSU player since Norisha Campbell in 2001 to accomplish that feat.
Henke also recorded 15 or more kills in six consecutive matches from Aug. 30-Sept. 14 which is the longest streak since Payton Caffrey had six consecutive matches with 15 or more kills in 2018.
Henke has recorded double digit kills in 10 consecutive matches.
Henke has recorded 17 service aces so far this season after recording just five aces all of last season.
Against UIC, Henke had seven service aces which was tied for the fourth-most in FSU history. Henke joined Audrey Koenig as the only two FSU players to record seven or more aces in the past 20 seasons.
Henke's seven aces are tied for the second-most in a three-set match of any player in the country this season.
Henke was the 2022 Division II AVCA National Freshman of the Year at Cal State LA.

Filimaua Off to Great Start in 2025

Filimaua is FSU's most experienced and productive returner as she enters as a two-year starter in her junior season.
In her first full season as an outside hitter, Filimaua has recorded 171 kills along with 110 digs and 18 service aces.
Flimaua has recorded double digit kills in seven out of her last nine matches and has recorded a double double in her last two matches. Filimaua has recorded five double doubles this season. .
Filimaua had the best match of her career against South Florida on September 5. Filimaua had a career high 22 kills on 54 attempts.
In 2024, Filimaua did a little bit of everything as she recorded 173 kills, 66 assists, 27 aces, 267 digs and 23 blocks. Filimaua filled in at libero during the middle of the season last year but will return to her main position as an outside hitter in 2025.

Kpea Impressing in Her Freshman Season

Nenu Kpea has had a great start to her career in the Garnet and Gold and has taken her play to the next level.
Kpea has played in all 50 sets for FSU and leads the team with 58 blocks and 1.16 blocks per set.
Kpea has recorded 101 kills and is hitting .326.
Against UNF on August 30, Kpea had a game-high eight blocks against the Ospreys.

Lexie Mason Taking Big Step in ACC Play

With a school record nine true freshmen on the squad, Head Coach Chris Poole has seen this young group take some big strides as of late.
Opposite hitter Lexie Mason has played in 45 sets for the Noles this season and has made starts in the last four matches.
After having just 30 kills in the first nine matches, Mason has come on in ACC play with 28 kills in the last four matches including a career-high 14 kills at Wake Forest on October 3.
Mason has also been a lot more efficient in conference play as she is hitting .274 in ACC play compared to a .124 hitting percentage in non-conference play.

Victoria David Makes the Most of Opportunity

In the absence of Iane Henke last weekend, freshman Victoria David stepped up in a big way with a great weekend against Wake Forest and NC State.
David played in just six sets prior to last weekend as she played in all 10 sets against Wake Forest and NC State.
David picked up 10 kills in the win against the Demon Deacons and had seven kills and 13 digs against NC State.

Ewing Giving the Noles Great Production

Delaney Ewing has been a great addition for the Noles in the middle.
Ewing has played in 47 out of the 50 sets with 62 kills and 49 blocks.
Ewing had her best match with the Garnet and Gold as she recorded a season-best 10 kills and eight blocks at NC State.
Against UIC, Ewing had seven kills on seven swings in the Noles' sweep over the Flames.
Ewing comes from the University of San Francisco where she recorded 155 kills and 83 blocks in her freshman season.

Noles Bring on Former Sun Belt Libero of the Year in Mio Yamamoto

The Noles made a big splash in the transfer portal in picking up 2023 Sun Belt Libero of the Year Mio Yamamoto from Louisiana.
Yamamoto leads the team with 179 digs and has also added 16 aces.
Yamamoto has recorded double digit digs in 11 out of the 13 matches this season and had a season-high 25 kills at NC State on Oct. 5
Yamamoto was a two-time All-Sun Belt First Team selection in her two seasons in Lafayette.
Yamamoto ranked in the top 25 in the country in digs per set and recorded 13 matches with 20 or more digs in 2024.
Yamamoto has the most career digs of anyone on FSU's roster.

Nicholson and Stevenson Leading FSU's Offense

FSU brought in a couple of transfers from the portal to lead the offense for the 2025 season.
Lily Nicholson comes from TCU where she played in 112 out of the 113 sets for the Horned Frogs last season.
Nicholson leads the Seminoles with 264 assists and 5.28 assists per set.
Nicholson became just the eighth player in TCU history to record 1,000 assists with her 1,108 assists in her sophomore campaign.
She averaged 9.89 assists per set which ranked fifth in the Big 12 and 60th nationally.
She helped the Horned Frogs record a .252 hitting percentage over the course of the season which was tied for the second-best mark in school history.
Stevenson comes from Montana State where she started two seasons for the Bobcats.
Stevenson has recorded 232 assists in 13 matches.
Stevenson recorded over 1,000 assists in 2023 and added 664 assists in 2024.
Stevenson tallied 68 service aces in her two seasons in Bozeman.

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Seminoles Return Home to Host No. 10 SMU and No. 4 Pitt

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Victoria David

Delaney Ewing

Kyleene Filimaua

Iane Henke

Audrey Koenig

Nenu Kpea

Lexie Mason

Lily Nicholson

Mio Yamamoto

Florida State University Athletics

Seminoles Return Home to Host No. 10 SMU and No. 4 Pitt

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Victoria David

Delaney Ewing

Kyleene Filimaua

Iane Henke

Audrey Koenig

Nenu Kpea

Lexie Mason

Lily Nicholson

Mio Yamamoto

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