The Daily Nole

Seminole Saturday Summary: NCAA Cancels All Winter and Spring Sports, FSU Hoops Crowned ACC Champs

Mike Olivella/FSU athletics

With the spread of the cornovirus stealing national headlines, the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring championships on Thursday.

For Florida State, that presumably means the end for men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s tennis, beach volleyball, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s swimming and diving. The most notable were the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which were set to begin this coming week.

FSU had three teams — men’s basketball, women’s tennis and beach volleyball — all ranked in the top 5 nationally. The NCAA is planning on giving an extra year of eligibility to athletes participating in winter and spring sports where the season was not completed.

FSU basketball was crowned ACC champions for just the second time on Thursday. (Mitch White/FSU athletics)

Florida State men’s hoops took the court to start the ACC Tournament on Thursday, but never made it to tip. Just minutes before the Seminoles’ quarterfinal match-up with Clemson, the tournament was canceled.

Despite there being no ACC Tournament, the Seminoles were named the conference’s champion for the first time since 2012 and just the second in their history. FSU finished a game ahead of Louisville and Virginia to claim the regular season title and set a program record for ACC wins at 16-4 in conference.

FSU will finish the season with an overall record of 26-5. Assuming there is a final poll, it’s hard to see FSU falling below its current No. 4 ranking. That would be the highest final ranking ever for Florida State.

Football

Weekly Commitments: None
2021 Recruiting Class Ranking: No. 26 nationally, fourth in ACC (4 total commitments)*

Men’s Basketball

Record: 26-5
Ranking: No. 4 AP Poll; No. 4 USA Today Coaches Poll
Past Week: ACC Tournament canceled.
Recognitions: Leonard Hamilton, HC (ACC Coach Of The Year); Devin Vassell, G/F (All-ACC second team); Trent Forrest, G (All-ACC second team, All-ACC Defensive Team); M.J. Walker, G (All-ACC honorable mention); Patrick Williams, F (All-ACC Freshman team, ACC Sixth Man of the Year)
Weekly Commitments: None
2020 Recruiting Class Ranking: No. 46 nationally, 10th in ACC (2 total commitments)*
Big Picture: With the season canceled, Florida State was forced to settle for its second ACC championship. The Seminoles were contenders to win college basketball’s ultimate prize.

Women’s Basketball

Record: 24-8
Ranking: No. 18 AP Poll; No. 20 USA Today Coaches Poll
Past Week: (0-1), lost to NC State, 71-66 (ACC Championship)
Recognitions: Kiah Gillespie, F (Katrina McClain Award finalist)
Big Picture: Florida State came up just short in its bid for a first ACC title. Sue Semrau’s team enjoyed another solid season.

Weekly Review

(4) FSU 66, (2) NC State 71
Saturday, March 8 (ACC Championship)

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kiah Gillespie capped a 10-0 run and gave Florida State a 63-58 lead with less than four minutes to play, but that would be the final field goal for FSU. After Aislinn Konig’s trey for NC State tied the game, a free throw by Elissa Cunane with less than two minutes to play put the Wolfpack ahead for good. Nausia Woolfolk missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game in the final seconds. FSU shot just 34 percent in the loss, but limited itself to five turnovers. Gillespie scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss. Cunane and Konig each finished with 18 points for NC State.

Baseball

Record: 12-5
Ranking: No. 15 D1Baseball; No. 19 Baseball America; No. 17 NCBWA; No. 16 Collegiate Baseball
Past Week: (3-0), beat Duke, 10-2; beat Florida, 2-0; beat Illinois State, 7-4
Recognitions: C.J. Van Eyk, P (AAU Sullivan Award semifinalist)
Big Picture: Florida State had started to play very good baseball this week with two wins over current top-10 teams. The cancellation of the season ends FSU’s streak of consecutive 40-win seasons at 42.

Weekly Review

(12) FSU 10, (16) Duke 2
Sunday, March 8

Five Florida State relievers combined to allow just a hit and one walk in seven shutout innings as the Seminoles avoided the 3-game sweep. Jack Anderson picked up the win after tossing 3.2 shutout innings. Offensively, FSU pounded out 13 hits, including a grand slam from Elijah Cabell. Reese Albert and Logan Lacey also left the yard in the win. Cabell drove in five runs. Lacey finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Chris Dutra finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for Duke.

(19) FSU 2, (1) Florida 0
Tuesday, March 10

Pitching was the story as Florida State held Florida to three hits to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Gators. FSU starter Antonio Velez allowed just a hit and two walks while striking out seven in six shutout innings. Dylan Simmons had three hits for the Seminoles, who left 12 men on base. Reese Albert and Nander De Sedas each had RBIs in the win.

Illinois State 4, (19) FSU 7
Wednesday, March 11

Florida State broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the seventh inning. Dylan Simmons put FSU ahead for good with a 2-run single. Reese Albert went 3-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs and three runs scored. Tyler Martin, Logan Lacey, Elijah Cabell and Simmons all had two hits in the win. Aidan Huggins was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for Illinois State in the loss. Chase Haney worked 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win for the Seminoles.

Men’s Tennis

Record: 11-4
Ranking: None
Past Week: (0-1), lost to Miami, 4-0
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: FSU finishes its season with a record of 11-4. The Seminoles would have likely been an NCAA Tournament team.

Weekly Review

(25) FSU 0, Miami 4
Sunday, March 8

After winning a pair of straight-set duals, Miami clinched the match as Adria Soriano Barrer defeated Florida State’s Alex Knaff, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Chase Wood and Rana Roop Bhular were each leading for the Seminoles when the match ended. Miami took two of the three doubles duals.

Women’s Tennis

Record: 14-3
Ranking: No. 4 ITA
Past Week: (1-0), beat Virginia, 4-3
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Florida State was in the midst of its best season in a long time. The Seminoles will finish with a record of 14-3 and its highest final national ranking ever.

Weekly Review

(4) FSU 4, (10) Virginia 3
Sunday, March 8

The doubles point turned out to be the difference for Florida State as the Seminoles won a nail-biter over Virginia. With the score knotted 3-3, Victoria Allen clinched the match for FSU with a hard-fought 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 over Virginia’s Amber O’Dell. Nandini Das and Alice Amendola each won in straight sets for FSU.

Track and Field

Ranking: Men No. 9 USTFCCCA, No. 1 South Region; Women No. 6 South Region
Past Week: NCAA Indoor Championships canceled
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Florida State did not have the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The FSU men would have been a legitimate contender for the title.

Swimming and Diving

Ranking: Men No. 14 CSCAA
Past Week: FSU competed in NCAA Zone B Diving
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Florida State’s season ended without it competing in the NCAA Championships.

Softball

Record: 17-7
Ranking: No. 12 NFCA Coaches Poll; No. 9 D1Softball; No. 10 USA Softball
Past Week: (2-1), beat Pennsylvania, 8-0 (THE Spring Games); beat Detroit Mercy, 16-0 (THE Spring Games), lost at Florida, 5-2
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Florida State’s season unfortunately ended with a loss to rival Florida. The Seminoles would have started ACC play this weekend.

Weekly Review

Pennsylvania 0, (12) FSU 8
Sunday, March 8 (THE Spring Games, 6 innings)

Brianna Enter allowed just four hits in five innings to earn the win for Florida State. Devyn Flaherty was 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for the Seminoles. Elizabeth Mason homered, drove in two runs and scored twice in the victory. Kayla Ketring had two of the five hits for Pennsylvania in the loss.

Detroit Mercy 0, (12) FSU 16
Sunday, March 8 (THE Spring Games, 5 innings)

Florida State had its highest scoring output in a month as it completed its stay in Longwood with a perfect record. Cassidy Davis finished with five RBIs and two runs scored. Devyn Flaherty was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored in the win. Kaia LoPreste and Josie Muffley each drove in two runs. The FSU pitching combination of Kathryn Sandercock and Davis combined to hold Detroit Mercy to just one hit.

(12) FSU 2, (7) Florida 5
Wednesday, March 11

Florida broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth inning before adding a run in the sixth to win the only match-up against Florida State this season. Charla Echols’ 2-run home run in the bottom of the fifth put the Gators ahead for good. Kendyl Lindaman was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI for Florida. Elizabeth Mason got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first for FSU. Morgan Noah had the Seminoles’ only other hit and scored their only other run.

Men’s Golf

Ranking: N/A
Past Week: Idle
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: It wasn’t a great season for Florida State men’s golf. Making the NCAA Championships would have been difficult.

Women’s Golf

Ranking: N/A
Past Week: FSU finished 11th at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate.
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: After a strong showing in Panama City, FSU finished in 11th-place out of 17 teams in South Carolina. The loss of Frida Kinhult really hurt the Seminoles this season.

Weekly Review

11th at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
Saturday, March 9 and Monday, March 11

Florida State finished just 11th out of 17 teams in South Carolina. As a team, the Seminoles shot +49. Wake Forest won the tournament easily at +3 — 26 strokes better than Auburn. The Demon Deacons had three top-5 finishers, including winner Emilia Migliaccio. Beatrice Wallin paced FSU with a seventh-place finish at +5.

Beach Volleyball

Record: 12-1
Ranking: No. 3 AVCA Coaches
Past Week: Idle
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Another Florida State team that could have made a deep NCAA run, the Seminoles finish with a 12-1 record and a No. 3 national ranking. The lone loss for the Seminoles came to USC.

Other News

FSU beach volleyball reached 200 wins as a program in its final matches of the season.

The Florida senate declared FSU men’s basketball national champions this week.

The NCAA has suspended recruiting until at least April 15.

FSU football canceled its Pro Day.

*247Sports Composite rankings

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. Like The Daily Nole on Facebook. To pitch an idea, author a post or to learn more about The Daily Nole, email Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com.

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