Noles Record 16 Aces in Season Opening Sweep Against UIC
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida State volleyball team (1-0) used some phenomenal serving to take down UIC (0-1) in three sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-11) in the season opener on Friday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Seminoles tallied 16 total service aces which is the most since October 28, 2022, when the Seminoles had 16 aces at Syracuse. Iane Henke recorded seven aces in the match which was tied for the fourth-most in school history and is just the second player in the last 20 years to have seven or more aces.
The Noles got off to a good start in set one as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. UIC battled back to tie the set at seven, but Henke took over the set as she served six straight points which included four aces and a kill to put the Noles up 14-7. The Flames got into striking distance by cutting the lead to three at 14-11, but FSU went on a 8-1 run to pull away from the Flames and take set one.
Set two nearly followed the same path as the first set as the Noles jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a couple of key blocks from freshman Nenu Kpea and sophomore Johanna Sova. The teams traded points, but a couple of big kills from Kyleene Filimaua gave the Noles a 14-10 lead. The Flames cut the lead to two, but FSU took advantage of some errors from UIC to be the first team to 20 once again. Henke picked up her fifth ace of the match, and a block from Filimaua and a kill from Lexie Mason put the Noles in control to take a 2-0 lead.
FSU continued to apply pressure from the service line in the third set as Filimaua served three consecutive aces then Mio Yamamoto served three more aces to put the Noles up 10-1 early in the third set. The Flames slowly started to climb back into the set but a service error and Henke’s seventh ace of the match slowed the momentum. Freshman Payton Whalen and sophomore Delaney Ewing took over the match and scored six consecutive points for the Noles, and they never looked back as FSU ended the match on a 9-0 run to take the final set 25-11.
Henke led the way with nine kills to go along with her seven aces. Filimaua also had a good match with eight kills and added a career high five aces of her own. Nenu Kpea had a great match defensively with a game high eight blocks. Yamamoto led the team with nine digs.
FSU will be back in action tomorrow at 6 p.m. against UNF on ESPN+.
For updates and exclusive content, follow the Seminoles on X (FSU_Volleyball), Instagram (fsuvolleyball) and Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Volleyball).
The Seminoles tallied 16 total service aces which is the most since October 28, 2022, when the Seminoles had 16 aces at Syracuse. Iane Henke recorded seven aces in the match which was tied for the fourth-most in school history and is just the second player in the last 20 years to have seven or more aces.
The Noles got off to a good start in set one as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. UIC battled back to tie the set at seven, but Henke took over the set as she served six straight points which included four aces and a kill to put the Noles up 14-7. The Flames got into striking distance by cutting the lead to three at 14-11, but FSU went on a 8-1 run to pull away from the Flames and take set one.
Set two nearly followed the same path as the first set as the Noles jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a couple of key blocks from freshman Nenu Kpea and sophomore Johanna Sova. The teams traded points, but a couple of big kills from Kyleene Filimaua gave the Noles a 14-10 lead. The Flames cut the lead to two, but FSU took advantage of some errors from UIC to be the first team to 20 once again. Henke picked up her fifth ace of the match, and a block from Filimaua and a kill from Lexie Mason put the Noles in control to take a 2-0 lead.
FSU continued to apply pressure from the service line in the third set as Filimaua served three consecutive aces then Mio Yamamoto served three more aces to put the Noles up 10-1 early in the third set. The Flames slowly started to climb back into the set but a service error and Henke’s seventh ace of the match slowed the momentum. Freshman Payton Whalen and sophomore Delaney Ewing took over the match and scored six consecutive points for the Noles, and they never looked back as FSU ended the match on a 9-0 run to take the final set 25-11.
Henke led the way with nine kills to go along with her seven aces. Filimaua also had a good match with eight kills and added a career high five aces of her own. Nenu Kpea had a great match defensively with a game high eight blocks. Yamamoto led the team with nine digs.
FSU will be back in action tomorrow at 6 p.m. against UNF on ESPN+.
For updates and exclusive content, follow the Seminoles on X (FSU_Volleyball), Instagram (fsuvolleyball) and Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Volleyball).
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