No. 20 Florida State volleyball captures first win on opening night against USF

No. 20 Florida State volleyball (1-0) used a balanced offensive attack to take down the South Florida Bulls (0-1) after a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-14,25-15) on opening night in front of 866 fans in Tully Gym. The Seminoles have won four consecutive season openers dating back to 2021 and have now won five straight against the Bulls to improve its all-time record to 42-6 against USF.

The Seminoles had a hard-fought battle to kick off their first set against the Bulls. The lead of the match fell into the hands of both teams throughout the set, but the Seminoles used a 7-2 run to jump out to a 16-12 lead. USF climbed back to tie the set at 21, but the Seminoles scored four out of the final five points to take set one.

The Seminoles showed off their offensive power in the second set as they took an early lead and never looked back in an impressive 25-14 win in the second set. FSU hit over .500 with Taylor Head and Kyleene Filimaua leading the way with five kills each in the set.

USF jumped out to a 7-3 lead in set three, but the Noles did not stay down for long. They used an 8-1 run in the middle of the set to cruise to a 25-15 win, which was sealed with a beautiful block from freshman Johanna Sova.

Kyleene Filimaua led the offensive attack with an impressive 10 kills, while Taylor Head and Khori Louis each added nine kills. The Seminole block was in full force with 10 total blocks led by Kelsey Perry with four and Maddie Snider with three. The Seminoles finished with a .367 hitting percentage while keeping the Bulls at a .138 percentage.

The Seminoles will continue the Seminole Invitational against UC Santa Barbara at 4 p.m. tomorrow on ACCNX. They will then face No. 25 Georgia on Sunday at 3 p.m. on the ACC Network.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: No. 20 Florida State volleyball captures first win on opening night against USF