TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — The Florida State Volleyball team wrapped up back-to-back road sweeps on Sunday as it took down Wake Forest, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-19), at Reynolds Gym.
The victory by the Seminoles (14-5, 7-3) comes after sweeping Virginia Tech on the road on Friday.
“I've never been more proud of a team,” FSU Head Coach Chris Poole said. “Most of the players on the team have been trying to fight off illness. We could have laid down and given up with the way they were feeling, but they fought through the adversity. Simply an amazing effort by every player over the weekend. This is a special group of young ladies.”
Florida State was in control for virtually the entire match against a Wake Forest team that took Miami to five sets on Friday night. FSU sided out nearly 75 percent of the match and accumulated 65 digs, its second-most in a three-set match this season. The Demon Deacons (11-10, 2-8) found it difficult to put balls down as it hit just .181 against FSU.
Freshman libero Emery Dupes and junior defensive specialist Lauryn Burrows both impressed with 14 digs each. Redshirt junior setter Lily Tessier produced a double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs to go along with four blocks and four kills, continuing her ascension as one of the most talented setters in the conference.
Florida State recorded a .331 hitting percentage in the match and totaled 11.0 team blocks, its fifth match of the year with double-digit blocking numbers. Junior middle blocker Emma Clothier led the way with seven blocks while freshman Khori Louis added three.
Clothier flirted with a triple-double in the match, recording 12 kills with a .478 hitting percentage, seven blocks and tying a career high with eight digs. Sophomore Sydney Conley had 10 kills and a .360 hitting percentage to go with three digs and two blocks and redshirt junior Morgan Chacon added 10 kills, a .286 hitting percentage and seven digs.
The Seminoles hit .425 in the opening set and sided out nearly 71 percent of the time, not allowing Wake Forest to get in a groove from the service line. Conley recorded seven kills in the opening frame while Clothier added six to help FSU win a tight 25-21 first set.
Five team blocks in the second set contributed to a 25-17 win, spear-headed by a 5-0 start. Dupes led FSU with 13 digs at the break, covering extremely well throughout the match, while Burrows added eight of her own through two sets.
The third set got tight as Wake Forest cut its deficit to 20-19, forcing an FSU timeout. The Seminoles followed with a 5-0 scoring run to end the match, highlighted by an incredible rally and great hustle from Burrows to help FSU take a 22-19 lead.
Florida State returns to Tully Gym this upcoming weekend, hosting Boston College on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Syracuse on Halloween Sunday at Noon.
