Volleyball Heads to Tampa to Face USF and South Carolina

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida State volleyball team (2-0) continues its road stretch this weekend as it heads to Tampa to face USF (0-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. and South Carolina (3-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. Friday's match can be seen live on ESPN+. Saturday's match won't be streamed but fans can follow along on statbroadcast.com.

Noles Head to Tampa for Matches with USF and South Carolina

The Seminoles continue its opening road stretch with a couple of big matches in Tampa as they take on USF on Friday and South Carolina on Saturday.
USF has started the season 0-3 with losses to Purdue, Tennessee and Florida. In 2024, USF finished 19-10 and won the AAC Regular Season Championship.
South Carolina is 3-1 with wins over East Tennessee State, Campbell and Coastal Carolina. The Gamecocks one loss came to Clemson in five sets. South Carolina finished 16-12 and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Series History

FSU has dominated the series against the Bulls. FSU leads the all-time series 42-6 and holds a 8-2 series lead in Tampa. FSU has won the last five matches against the Bulls dating back to 2002. FSU has dropped just one set in those five wins.
FSU leads the all-time series against the Gamecocks 17-9. The teams have not met since 2006.

Last Time Out

FSU got off to a great start in 2025 as the Seminoles swept both UIC and UNF last weekend.
The Noles recorded 16 aces against UIC and were led by Iane Henke with nine kills and seven aces.
Against the Ospreys, Henke also led the way with 17 kills. FSU hit .284 as a team and also had eight blocks.
FSU improved to 35-8 on opening weekend under Head Coach Chris Poole.

Noles Look to Youth and New Faces in 2025

14 new players will be wearing the Garnet and Gold this season as the Noles brought nine freshmen and five transfers for 2025.
The 14 new players is the most ever under Coach Poole at Florida State.
FSU's freshman class of nine players is the largest freshman class in program history.
FSU started two freshmen in Payton Whalen and Nenu Kpea in the opening match against UIC. This was just the fourth time that Coach Poole has started multiple freshmen in the opening game at FSU.
Four total true freshmen saw playing time on opening weekend.

Henke Shines on Opening Weekend

Iane Henke was looking to take a big step in her second year with the Garnet and Gold and looks to have done so after the first weekend.
Henke led the way on opening weekend with 26 kills and a .317 hitting percentage to go along with nine aces.
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 most in a three-set match of any player in the country this season.
Against UNF, Henke tallied 17 kills which was a career best with Florida State.
Henke averaged 4.33 kills per set this past weekend.
Henke ended 2024 with 143 kills and a .229 hitting percentage.
Henke also added 74 blocks in her junior campaign.
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.
Filimaua tallied 20 kills with six aces to go along 15 digs and three blocks.
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 Impresses in Debut

Nenu Kpea had a phenomenal start to her collegiate career this past weekend.
In two matches, Kpea led the team with 13 blocks and tallied 12 kills.
Against UNF, Kpea had a game-high eight blocks against the Ospreys.

Ewing's Perfect Match

Delaney Ewing made a splash in her first match with the Garnet and Gold.
Against UIC, Ewing had seven kills on seven swings in the Noles' sweep over the Flames.
Ewing had 10 kills and hit .643 to go along with six blocks on the weekend.
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 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.
Yamamoto recorded 21 digs with six aces in her first two games with FSU.

Nicholson and Stevenson set to Lead 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 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.
Nicholson led the Seminoles with 32 assists and 5.33 assists per set on opening weekend.
Stevenson comes from Montana State where she started two seasons for the Bobcats.
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.
Stevenson tallied 26 assists and two service aces in the two matches over the weekend.

Noles Bring On One of the Best Young Coaches In Jon Wong

Jon Wong joined the Florida State coaching staff as an assistant coach in February.
Wong brings over 10 years of coaching experience with some of the top programs in college volleyball. Wong most recently spent a year as an assistant coach at Rice where the Owls finished 19-8 and made the semifinals of the AAC Tournament.
At Rice, Wong primarily worked with the pin hitters where the Owls had one of the best offenses in the AAC. Rice ranked first in the conference in kills per set (14.02) and second in the conference in hitting percentage (.236).
Prior to Rice, Wong was an assistant to the head coach for the National Champion Texas Longhorns in 2023.
Wong provided the coaching staff with statistical analysis, opponent scouting, & undertake projects to address various needs/areas of improvement for the Texas volleyball program.
He also helped the Longhorns earn two First Team All-America honors in Asjia O'Neal and Madisen Skinner.
Before making the move to Austin, Wong spent three years as the assistant coach at Texas Tech.
Wong helped the Red Raiders make their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years in 2021.

On the Road Again

The Noles will be on the road early and often to start the 2025 season.
The Noles will not play at home until September 14 which is the program's latest home opener since 2001. FSU will have just two home games prior to October 10.

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Volleyball Heads to Tampa to Face USF and South Carolina

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Delaney Ewing

Iane Henke

Audrey Koenig

Nenu Kpea

Lily Nicholson

Payton Whalen

Mio Yamamoto

Florida State University Athletics

Volleyball Heads to Tampa to Face USF and South Carolina

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Delaney Ewing

Iane Henke

Audrey Koenig

Nenu Kpea

Lily Nicholson

Payton Whalen

Mio Yamamoto

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