University of Minnesota Athletics
Florida State punches ticket to Regional Final
12/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Dec. 9, 2011
Florida State Defeats Purdue to Advance to NCAA Regionals
Florida State advanced to the regional finals for the second time in three years, as it defeated Purdue in four sets by scores of 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19 at the Sports Pavilion on Friday, Dec. 9.
The Seminoles will face the winner of the second match featuring Iowa State and Minnesota in the regional final at 8:30 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, Dec. 10.
The Seminoles had five different players register double-figure kill totals, as Jekaterin Stepanova, Ashley Neff and Elise Walch each had 11 kills. Sareea Freeman and Visnja Djurdjevic had 10 kills. Djurdjevic and Stepanova finished with 26 and 22 digs respectively.
Florida State's middle blockers (Neff and Freeman) combined to hit .472 for the match. Neff hit .529, and Freeman paced Florida State with nine blocks. Katie Mosher finished with a match-high 28 digs.
Ariel Turner had 16 kills and 20 digs, but was limited to a .105 hitting percentage, as Purdue hit a season-low .129 as a team. Tiffany Fisher had 15 kills, six digs and hit .375. Blair Bashen had 20 digs for the match.
Florida State set the tone early in the match with a comeback in the first set. The Seminoles fell behind 21-13 in the first set, but went on a 12-2 run to finish the first set. Purdue answered by claiming the second set 25-21.
In the third set, Florida State hit scalding .424 as a team on the way to claiming the third set 25-20. The fourth set featured seven ties, and saw the two team knotted at 19. The Seminoles closed out the match on a 6-0 run, and finished when Stepanova's kill sent Florida State to the regional finals.