FSU Beach Volleyball Clinches Spot in National Championship

All eyes turned to the decisive set on Court 5 on Saturday as Florida State got sweet revenge. The fourth-seeded Seminoles clinched a trip to the national championship dual on Sunday with a thrilling 3-2 win over Hawaii.

It was the Sunbows who ended FSU’s NCAA Tournament run in thrilling fashion last season. In the decisive set of the decisive match, Madison Fitzpatrick and Francesca Goncalves defeated the Hawaii pair of Hannah Zalopany and Paige Dreeuws, 24-22, 21-23, 15-12. The Seminoles had match point during the second set, but were unable to close it out.

No. 3 seed Hawaii took the first point with a straight set victory over FSU when Ari Homayun and Amy Ozee topped Molly McBain and Brooke Kuhlman. All three FSU victories came in three sets.

Vanessa Freire and Tory Paranagua took the match for FSU over Emily Maglio and Ka’iwi Schucht to even things up. Katie Horton and Hailey Luke won in three sets over Hawaii’s Morgan Martin and Lea Monkhouse at about the same time that Sara Putt and Macy Jerger fell in three sets, turning attention to the decisive court.

FSU advances to the championship dual on Sunday in what will be a rematch of an earlier round. The Seminoles will face either UCLA, USC or Hawaii. The contest begins at 2 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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