Florida State jumped out to a 5-0 advantage early in the first set,
prompting UAlbany to take the first timeout. The Great Danes scored
their first point on a block by Traci Vandegrift and Gabby Whitworth,
but the Seminoles continued to roll, building up an 8-2 advantage. With
Whitworth behind the service line, a block by Casey Wright and Dunja
Prgomet spurred the Great Danes into action, as they climbed back to
within 8-5. However, Florida State was able to take advantage of three
straight UAlbany attack errors, and a kill by Stepanova gave the
Seminoles a 13-5 lead.
Later in the first set, Stepanova smacked back-to-back kills to put
Florida State up, 21-12, but the Great Danes used a Progmet kill and a
Seminole attack error to close the gap to within 23-15. Florida State
got to set point on a kill by Rachael Morgan, one of her three in the
set, and closed it out with a kill by Duygu Duzceler to take a 1-0 match
lead.
The
Seminoles started the second set much like the first, building up a 5-0
lead before committing an attack error to give UAlbany its first point.
The Great Danes pulled within 9-6 on a kill by Wright, her fifth of the
match, but Morgan served for three straight points to give Florida State
a 12-6 advantage. The Seminoles built up a 17-9 advantage on
consecutive UAlbany attack errors, and the Great Danes took a time out
to regroup. Florida State would not let down, and scored eight of the
next 10 points to take the set and head to the break with a 2-0 lead in
the match.
UAlbany took an early 3-1 lead in the third set on a kill and a block by
Wright. The Great Danes regained their confidence and built up a 7-4
advantage on a dump kill by Brooke Stanley and a long kill by Samantha
Brostrom. However, three kills by Visnja Djurdjevic, along with a
UAlbany attack error, gave Florida State an 8-7 lead. With Brostrom
behind the service line, the Great Danes tied the set at 9-9 on a kill
and block. The Seminoles used their height advantage to hold onto a
slight lead, but UAlbany continued to battle, staying within 15-13 on a
kill by Brostrom.
Florida State took a four-point advantage on back-to-back kills by
Stepanova and Marija Milosavljevic, forcing the Great Danes to use their
second timeout of the set. UAlbany climbed back to within 21-17 on
consecutive Seminole attack errors, and closed the gap to three points
on a service ace by four-time America East Defensive Player of the Year
Laurie Gonzalez. Strong serving by Gonzalez, combined with kills from
Prgomet and Vandegrift pulled the Great Danes within a point, 21-20.
UAlbany hung tough, getting a kill by Wright after the Seminoles got to
set point, but Stepanova smashed her 16th kill of the match down the middle to give Florida State the win.
Wright led UAlbany with 11 kills on .450 hitting, while Stanley finished
just short of a double-double, totaling 30 assists and nine digs.
Gonzalez recorded a team-best 12 digs, while the Great Danes posted four
total blocks on the Seminoles, while Florida State totaled two.
Djurdjevic recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs for Florida
State (x-x), which advance to the second round of the tournament, taking
on Cincinnati for a berth to the Sweet Sixteen. Katie Mosher led all
players with 17 digs, while setters Sarah Wickstrom and Duzceler
finished with 21 and 16 assists, respectively.
UAlbany finishes the 2011 season with a 21-9 record overall.