TALLAHASSEE – The 2025 Florida State volleyball team begins its season this weekend with the annual Garnet and Gold Scrimmage on Friday night at 6 p.m. before facing South Alabama in an exhibition match at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Both matches will take place inside Tully Gym and are free to attend. The Seminoles will also be holding its First Serve Party on Friday at 4 p.m. at Tully Gym. Fans can purchase tickets to the event at seminoles.com/tickets. 

 

Head Coach Chris Poole is in his 18th season as the leader of the Seminoles and brings back some key pieces from last year’s NCAA Tournament team along with plenty of new faces. The Seminoles brought in 14 new players including nine true freshmen. FSU’s nine true freshman is the most the program has ever had in its history. 

 

Kyleene Filimaua and Iane Henke will look to lead the way for the Seminoles as they return as FSU’s top kill leaders. In 2024, Filimaua did a little bit of everything as she recorded 173 kills, 66 assists, 27 aces, 267 digs and 23 blocks. Filimaua filled in at libero during the middle of the season last year but will return to her main position as an outside hitter in 2025. 

 

Henke will look to build off her solid first season with the Garnet and Gold. The former DII National Freshman of the Year tallied 143 kills last season to go along with 74 blocks while hitting .229. 

 

The Noles brought in some key transfers. Libero Mio Yamamoto will come in make an impact for the Noles after two years at Louisiana. Yamamoto was a two-time All-Sun Belt First Team selection in her two seasons in Lafayette and was named the 2023 Sun Belt Libero of the Year. Yamamoto ranked in the top 25 in the country in digs per set and recorded 13 matches with 20 or more digs in 2024. 

 

FSU also brought in setters Lily Nicholson and Nellie Stevenson. Nicholson started for TCU last year and played in 112 out of the 113 sets last season for the Horned Frogs. Nicholson became just the eighth player in TCU history to record 1,000 assists with her 1,108 assists in her sophomore campaign. She averaged 9.89 assists per set which ranked fifth in the Big 12 and 60th nationally. She helped the Horned Frogs record a .252 hitting percentage over the course of the season which was tied for the second-best mark in school history. 

 

Stevenson comes from Montana State where she started two seasons for the Bobcats. Stevenson recorded over 1,000 assists in 2023 and added 664 assists in 2024. Stevenson tallied 68 service aces in her two seasons in Bozman. 

 

In the middle, Florida State brought in Delaney Ewing from the University of San Francisco. In her freshman season with the 49ers, Ewing played in 30 matches where she recorded 155 kills while hitting .309. Ewing also added 83 blocks. Ewing will be battling with Kelsey Perry, Johanna Sova and freshman Nenu Kpea for spots in the middle. Perry was second on the team with 109 blocks and 1.07 blocks per set in 2024 to go along with 59 kills. Sova played in 24 sets last season and tallied 12 kills and 23 blocks.   

 

The Noles will also look to get production from freshmen Payton Whalen (OH), Ava Lambert (L), Ariel Ross (L), Victoria David (OH), Ryan Murphy (S), Stefanija Pajic (OH), Kaylee Peper (MB) and Lexie Mason (OPP). 

 

The Noles will open its regular season next weekend in Jacksonville where they will face UIC on Friday and North Florida on Saturday. 

 

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