No. 20 Miami Volleyball Stumbles at Florida State, 3-0

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Three Florida State players had 12 kills to help lead the homestanding Seminoles past No. 20 University of Miami in the ACC-opener for both clubs Wednesday evening by a count of 3-0 inside Tully Gym. The match was televised live on ESPNU as part of the network’s Wednesday Night Volleyball package.

FSU took the match on scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-18. The loss was the first regular season setback for the Hurricanes in 14 matches, dating back to the 2010 campaign.

Playing in its first ever nationally televised match and for the first time ever as a ranked team, the 20th-ranked Hurricanes of Miami (9-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) were unable to start the conference season the same way they started their non-conference slate.

Florida State (7-4, 1-0 ACC) used a balanced attack to earn the upset win. Jekaterina Stepanova, Visnja Djurdjevic and Elise Walch each recorded 12 kills for the Seminoles as the team hit at a .310 percentage. Defensively, the Seminoles placed three players in double figures for digs and limited the Canes explosive attack to just a .205 clip.

Miami got solid play from senior middle blocker Ali Becker (Katy, Texas) with a match-high tying 12 kills and hitting .440. Senior All-America outside hitter Lane Carico (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) registered nine kills and 16 digs.

UMiami setter Katie Gallagher (Winter Park, Fla.) had a match-high 29 assists, adding eight digs and two blocks.

FSU was backed by a .706 attack percentage from Walch (12k-0e-17ta), while teammates Stepanova and Djurdjevic each had double-doubles. Stepanova had 11 digs while Djurdjevic finished with 12. Setters Sarah Wickstrom (25 assists) and Duygu Duzceler (20 assists) setup the Seminoles offense.

Miami continues its three-match ACC road swing at Virginia Tech (Sept. 23) and Virginia (Sept. 25).

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