The Daily Nole

FSU Beach Volleyball Advances to CCSA Final

Bill Love/FSU athletics

Florida State felt a little more resistance on the second day of the CCSA Beach Volleyball Championships in Georgia on Saturday, but the Seminoles still managed to sweep through Pool A and then defeat Florida Atlantic in the tournament semifinals.

FSU advanced to Sunday’s final with a 4-1 victory over the Owls. Three of the four FSU victories came in straight sets.

Hailey Luke and Eva Torruella were able to shake off a first set defeat to beat Carly Scarborough and Ashlan Cunningham, 16-21, 21-15, 15-12. The FSU combination of Leigh Andrew and Brooke Kuhlman took the loss to FAU’s Jessalyn Kinlaw and Megan Rice, 20-22, 20-22.

To reach the semifinals, FSU defeated fourth-seeded South Carolina 3-2 and then Florida International, 4-1 to finish 4-0 in Pool A. The Gamecocks were the closest contest for FSU this tournament, but the duel lacked drama.

Florida State won the first three matches in straight sets to go up 3-0. South Carolina’s combinations of Katie Zimmerman and Macie Tendrich and Jade Vilt and Franky Harrison took 3-set victories over Macy Jerger and Sierra Sanchez and Luke and Torruella, respectively.

Against the Golden Panthers, three of the four victorious teams for FSU won in straight series. The lone exception was Andrew and Kuhlman, who rallied from a first set loss to beat the FIU team of Margherita Bianchin and Frederica Frasca, 19-21, 23-21, 15-12. Katie Horton and Francesca Goncalves was the only FSU team to lose, falling 13-21, 23-21, 12-15 to Lina Bernier and Katie Hogan.

Florida International will get one last chance to defeat the Seminoles as the teams meet for the CCSA Championship at 1 p.m. EST on Sunday.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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