Volleyball Edges Out Boston College in Four-Set Victory

Junior outside hitter Payton Caffrey led both teams with 17 kills, hitting .421 with only one error on 38 attacks. Sophomore middle blocker Taryn Knuth led both teams in offensive efficiency, hitting .438 with nine kills on 16 attacks. Knuth still leads the ACC with 1.56 blocks per set this season after earning five total blocks on Friday night.

The Seminoles conclude their road trip on Sunday afternoon in Syracuse. Both teams are tied for third in the conference with a 6-1 ACC record following Friday’s round of conference play.

Set 1 – FSU 25, BC 21

FSU held the lead from early on, but Boston College’s tough offense helped them tie it up for the third time at 12-all. While the Seminoles never surrendered the lead throughout the set, BC stayed close until Florida State was able to pull away at the end of the set. FSU gained its largest lead over the Eagles at 21-15 until a pair of errors from BC ended the set.

Payton Caffrey led the offense with five kills on seven attacks, while her outside counterpart Christina Ambrose took 11 swings at the ball to put down three kills. Wicisnki held down the back row with eight digs to keep the ball in play on FSU’s side.

Set 2 – BC 25, FSU 22

Boston College took an early lead in the second set, going on a 5-0 run to lead FSU 6-2 and force a timeout from the Seminoles. The Eagles took the next point, but a kill off of a slide from Ashley Murray snapped the six-point run.

The set was tied nine times, but FSU was unable to take the lead until the 19-18 mark. The Seminoles then held the lead to be the first team to 20, but BC’s offense helped them catch up to tie up the set for the eighth time at 22-all. Three errors on FSU’s side ended the set and tied up the match at one game each.

Set 3 – FSU 25, BC 21

The Seminoles took an early lead coming out of intermission, but another consistent offensive effort from the Eagles helped keep the set tight. After taking their first lead at 8-7, the set stayed close and saw seven more tied scores, but the Seminoles never surrendered the lead.

The third set was highlighted by more efficient offensive performance, as the Seminoles hit .317 with errorless performances by Ambrose, Murray and Caffrey.

Set 4 – FSU 25, BC 17

FSU’s first three points in the set came off of kills from Caffrey, but Boston College kept it close with a large presence at the net to put down more kills than the Seminoles early in the set. Caffrey went on to hit .500 in the set with five kills on 10 attacks, supported by five total blocks from Knuth (one solo), Brim and Burkert to hold the Eagles back from gaining the lead.

A kill on a slide from Knuth gave Florida State match point, but Boston College slowed the Seminoles with another kill. FSU finished it off with a block on the right side by Burkert and Mariah Brim for FSU’s ninth block of the match.

Match Notes

• This marked FSU’s 10^th win over Boston College when playing in Chestnut Hill, and the Seminoles’ 16^th straight win over the Eagles.
• Senior setter Brianne Burkert earned her 33^rd career double-double and fourth of the season with 24 assists and 10 digs.
• Senior libero Kelsey Wicinski’s 28 digs in the match tied her career high (against Oklahoma, 9/16/16).
• Freshman DS Taylor Roberts saw her first double-digit outing of the season, picking up 11 digs for a season high (previous was 9 at Virginia, 9/28/18).
• Redshirt freshman middle blocker Mariah Brim saw a season high five total blocks (previous was three vs. Wake Forest, 9/23/18).
• Junior DS Madison Sullivan saw her first double-digit defensive performance of the season, picking up 14 digs for a season high (previous was 9 at Auburn, 9/16/18).

Florida State at Syracuse
Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018 | 1:00 pm
ACC Network Extra | Live Stats

Scouting the Orange

• Syracuse heads into Sunday’s match as the only other team with a 6-1 conference record, along with FSU. The Orange took down Miami in four sets on Friday night.
• Most recently, Syracuse swept Virginia after falling to No. 8 Pitt for its only conference loss of the season. The Orange and the Seminoles both took only a set off of the Panthers this season.
• The Orange leads the conference and is ranked fourth in the nation in blocks per set with 3.03, and leads the ACC with 172.5 total blocks. The team’s blocking effort is led by middle blockers Amber Witherspoon and Santita Ebangwese, whose blocks per set (1.42 and 1.37, respectively) rank in the top 25 in the nation.
• Freshman outside hitter Polina Shemanova’s 4.16 blocks per set ranks second in the ACC and 35^th in the nation, right behind conference leader Payton Caffrey’s 4.18 blocks per set.

FSU vs. SU

• The Seminoles are undefeated against the Orange with seven meetings in the series between the two teams.
• The teams met once before Syracuse joined the ACC, when FSU won the three-set decision at the Hofstra Classic in 1992.
• No match in the series has been decided in more than four sets, with FSU winning 3-1 in the last two matches between the teams.

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