TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Senior libero Alexis Dacosta managed to track down a career-best 25 digs but it wasn’t enough to run down Florida State as the Seminoles (4-3, 0-0) bested the Tigers (6-2, 0-0) in four sets, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-14) on Sunday afternoon.
Kalei Edson put on a serving exhibition in the opening set. Even though she notched just one ace, the sophomore setter sparked an 11-0 run that gave the Tigers ample room in the first frame.
Edson, along with fellow setter Shanelle Puetz, had the pleasure of setting Lauren Dreves. Dreves was on a mission to open the match, finding eight kills on her 12 swings. Liz Markovska would add another three.
Defensively, senior libero Alexis Dacosta was running down balls left and right. She finished the opening set with a team-high six digs.
Despite a late run from the Seminoles, Auburn managed to hold off the comeback and begin the match with the set win.
Auburn built itself a difficult hole to climb out of to begin the second set. Florida State opened with an 8-2 run and seemingly had all the momentum.
Head coach Brent Crouch’s group doesn’t give up, though. Behind better passing, Dreves and the outside hitters began to have some more consistent success.
Dreves added five more kills and was hitting .407 by the time the set came to an end. Dreves finished with a team-high 16 kills.
Dacosta tracked down 10 digs in the second alone to bring her total to 16. She would end her afternoon with a career-high 25 digs.
Auburn came as close as 20-17. However, four service errors from the Orange and Blue, combined with enough firepower at the tail end of the set, FSU evened the match at one apiece.
Another run from Florida State gave the Seminoles another lead in the third set. Once more, though, the Tigers were up to the Challenge.
Auburn trailed by as many as six before Zoe Slaughter sparked an 8-0 at the service line that saw Markovska, Dreves and Havlicek all earn kills to take the lead 19-17.
Markovska represented the second Tiger in double figures in kills. She ended her afternoon with 14 and notched her second double-double of the season with 10 digs.
With the set tied at 22, FSU found the right buttons to press, finding the final three points and ultimately taking the lead, 2-1.
The fourth and final frame was more of the same from the home side. Florida State’s serving made it difficult to find any rhythm for Crouch’s crew.
In the end, the Tigers fell 3-1.
WHAT CROUCH HAD TO SAY
Head coach, Brent Crouch
“It’s always tough to play a team twice. Look, Florida State is super talented and Chris (Poole) is a tremendous coach. I knew today was going to be a challenge. There were some things I liked for sure. I liked how we fought back at times in the second set, and definitely that 8-0 run in the third. FSU just made things difficult from the service line and we just couldn’t get into a rhythm enough offensively. There isn’t anything major that we need to fix in practice. We’ll keep grinding away on the little things and we’ll be in a good position when we get to Birmingham next week.”
MATCH NOTES
- Lauren Dreves (16 kills) reached double figures for the seventh time in eight matches
- Liz Markovska (14 kills) reached double figures for the fourth-straight match
- Markovska (10 digs) also notched her second double-double of the season
- Alexis Dacosta (25) set a career best