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Seminoles volleyball clinches conference title
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That ACC Volleyball Champions banner hanging in the rafters at Tully Gym is going to have to be updated.
That’s because the No. 15 Florida State volleyball team swept Maryland Sunday afternoon (25-22, 25-23, 25,9) to officially become 2009 outright champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference – an achievement that is a first for a program that’s only other conference title occurred in the 1998 ACC Tournament.
That year, the Seminoles finished fifth in the league and got hot at the end of the year. Fast forward 11 seasons later and this FSU (27-2, 18-1 ACC) team has been hot from the start and steamrolled the conference competition to claim the outright crown.
Against Maryland (13-18, 5-13) on Senior Day, the Seminoles could taste the championship when they came on to the court for the third set – and it looked like it judging by their performance on the court.
The Terrapins had proved to be difficult to put away in the first two sets but FSU ran away with a 25-9 win in the third to clinch the title.
“They have been challenged so much this year and they could have let down but they didn’t,” FSU head coach Chris Poole said. “These players have always found a way to overcome not playing well and have stayed together as a team all year no matter the situation. I am just so proud of them for what they have accomplished this season.”
Mira Djuric led all FSU players with 11 kills on a .421 hitting percentage. She also added three service aces and six digs in her final home game at Florida State.
Stephanie Neville posted eight kills and Fatma Yildirim had seven. Yildirim also led the team with a match-best 13 digs.
Maryland entered Sunday’s match with nothing to lose and it showed as the team proved to be a pesky bunch. The Seminoles could never generate very big leads in either of the first two sets but still earned close wins in both games.
Sunday’s outcome is just another notch in the belts for a team that has set a variety of school records this season – including highest national ranking ever (No. 15) and most ACC wins in a row (14).
“The whole history of everything that has happened will I think set in after the season,” Poole said. “Team records and individual records are not something we are focused on. We just have to get ready for Miami now and then the NCCA Tournament.”
Florida State will conclude its regular season in Miami on Wednesday with a match against a Hurricanes team the Seminoles swept earlier this year. That match will begin at 1 p.m.
The Seminoles will learn about their seeding in the NCAA Tournament this coming Sunday when ESPNews airs the selection show at 3 p.m.
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