TALLAHASSEE – It was all but easy for the Florida State volleyball team (13-8, 7-5), but the Seminoles came away with their fifth-straight win in a five-set victory (18-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-14, 15-13) over Boston College (15-9, 4-8) on Sunday afternoon at Tully Gym. The Noles have never lost to the Eagles inside of Tully Gym and are 26-3 all-time against the Eagles. 

The usual suspects of Iane Henke and Kyleene Filimaua carried the load as the two recorded 19 and 16 kills respectively, but the Noles got some surprise production from Payton Whalen who recorded a season-high 11 kills on 17 attempts to hit .529. Whalen hadn’t recorded more than five kills all season. Nenu Kpea added nine kills while Delaney Ewing had eight kills and six big blocks. Mio Yamamoto led the way defensively with 20 digs. 

The Eagles jumped all over the Noles in set one as they raced out to an 11-4, and the Noles never got closer than within five as the Eagles took the first set. 

The Noles responded well and played much better in set two jumping out to a 7-3 lead., The Eagles clawed their way back to pull within one at 13-12, but the Noles used 6-1 run to distance themselves and take the set 25-20. 

Set three started out as a back-and-forth affair as the teams were tied at 16 until Boston College went on a 9-2 run to end the set and take the lead in the match. 

The Noles were not going to go down quietly though as they stormed out of the gate to a 10-3 lead in set four and never looked back as they sent the match to a fifth set with a 25-14 victory. 

The Noles got the early advantage in set five as they raced out to a 10-3 lead. The Eagles stormed back to cut the lead to one at 13-12, but an attack error gave the Noles match point. The Noles got a great swing from Filimaua that forced an overpass, and Johanna Sova put it away to give the Noles the match. 

The Noles will get a huge opportunity against No. 15 Miami on Wednesday night in Coral Gables. The Noles have won six consecutive matches against the Hurricanes. First serve is set for 7 p.m. on the ACC Network. 

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