TAMPA – The Florida State volleyball team (3-1) bounced back with a sweep (26-24, 25-15, 25-16) over South Carolina (3-2) on Saturday afternoon in Tampa. 

The teams both got off to hot starts, but the Noles were able to pull away and take a 15-11 lead. The Gamecocks stormed back with a 9-1 run, but back-to-back kills from Nenu Kpea and Kyleene Filimaua pulled the Noles within one at 20-19. The Noles got a huge block from Filimaua and Delaney Ewing to tie the match at 21 then an ace from Caylan Russ gave the Noles the lead. A service error opened the door for the Gamecocks, and they reached set point first at 24-23, but kills from Payton Whalen and Iane Henke gave the Noles a set point of their own. FSU put an emphatic ending to the set as Whalen and Ewing teamed up for the block to end the set. 

It was all Noles in set two as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 25-15 set win. The Noles hit .379 and had just two attack errors in the set. 

The Gamecocks got the first point of set three, but that was the final lead they would see as the Noles went on to dominate the third set to clinch the sweep. The Noles hit .394 in set three and ended the match with a season-high .340 hitting percentage while holding the Gamecocks to just a .098 hitting percentage. 

Henke was phenomenal as she tallied 15 kills on 33 attempts for a .424 hitting percentage. Henke’s .424 hitting percentage is her career high with the Seminoles when she’s recorded at least 20 attempts. Henke also tallied 10 digs for her first double double of her Florida State career.  Kpea continued her strong start to her freshman campaign with seven kills to go along with four blocks. Ewing tied her career high with six blocks of her own to go along with four kills. 

FSU will continue its road trip on Wednesday when it heads to Norman to face Oklahoma for the Showdown at the Net. First serve is set for 7 p.m. on SEC Network. 

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