HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Seminoles.com) — The third-ranked Florida State beach volleyball team (31-4) continued their winning ways at the CCSA Tournament with a 4-1 win over LSU (24-6), improving their record to 25-0 all-time at the conference tournament.
It was a highly contested match across the board as three of the five courts went to three sets and only one set was won by more than five points.
Florida State jumped out early to take three of the five first sets on courts two, four and five. Sara Putt and Raelyn White converted that into the only straight-set win of the afternoon for the Seminoles on court four. They took an early 6-3 lead in the first set and maintained it on their way to a 21-17 first set win. Putt and White jumped out to a 6-4 lead in the second and expanded that to an 18-11 lead before taking the second set and court four 21-15.
LSU quickly tied it up with a straight-set win on court four. Torrey Van Winden and Keara Rutz were down 13-8 midway through the first but could not fight back to take the lead as they lost it 21-19. They jumped out to an 11-9 lead halfway through the second set but could not maintain the lead as they fell 21-19 in the second set as well.
While all of that was going on, courts two, three and five were headed to third sets after the Garnet and Gold lost the second sets on courts two and five and won the second set on court three. Kate Privett and Jenna Johnson battled to a 22-20 first set win before falling in the second 21-16. They took a slim 4-3 lead early into the final set and held on to it winning 15-10 and giving FSU a 2-1 lead.
Courts two and three would finish almost simultaneously. Alaina Chacon and Maddie Anderson cruised to a 21-13 first set win but lost the second set 21-19. In the final set, Chacon and Anderson took a 5-3 lead and never surrendered it as the Seminole duo then clinched the match with a 15-9 win.
Just moments later, Payton Caffrey and Molly McBain made it 4-1 with a three-set win of their own on court three. They lost the first set and battled to take the second set 22-20. They fell behind 7-4 in the final set and then narrowed it to 10-8. Caffrey and McBain went on to win seven of the final nine points to win 15-12 on court three.
Florida State will now play the winner of LSU and TCU tomorrow at 2:30 pm ET in a winner takes all CCSA Championship match.
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