TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State Seminoles (9-3) began ACC play in style on Friday night, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-6) in three sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) in front of a packed Tully Gym. The win marks the 17th-consecutive season that the Noles have won its ACC home opener, and the Noles improved to 6-0 inside Tully Gym this season.
The first set’s action matched Tully’s chaotic energy as points were swapped back and forth the entire set. Seminole highlights included a fantastic middle-of-the-set volley that ended in a Seminole point, multiple potential Notre Dame kills stuffed at the net by FSU middle blockers, and a total of 13 kills. Sydney Conley and Emma Clothier both led the Noles with four kills each. When the dust settled, FSU came out on top, winning the first set 25-20.
The second set was all Garnet and Gold, leading for almost its entirety. The offense was lights out, racking up 13 kills from five different Noles. Audrey Koenig led the set with five kills. The defense was also on full display: multiple long volleys ended in FSU points, along with two team blocks that stuffed Notre Dame. Despite a late-set push from the Irish, it wasn’t enough; the Noles won the set 25-18.
The third set started close, with the teams trading the lead between the first handful of points. However, an early-set kill from Conley sparked the Noles to gain momentum, not dropping the lead for the remainder of the set. The Noles offense continued to be lethal, ending the set with 9 total kills from five different Noles. Conley led FSU with four kills. The team ended the match strong, winning 25-17 and sweeping the Irish.
The story of the night was the Seminoles’ defense as they held the Fighting Irish to a .000 hitting percentage. Conley led the Noles with a season-high 11 kills on 16 attempts. Koenig added 10 kills while Emery Dupes was great from the service line recording three aces in the match.
Florida State continue their ACC play at home on September 25th to host No. 2 Louisville. First serve is set for 3 p.m. at Tully Gym. The match can be seen live on ESPN.
