Noles News: All the latest in FSU sports

Recruiting

Football

FSU football held its first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday:

Norvell opened his statement by giving specifics for the day’s proceedings. He said the team went “roughly 110-120 plays” with some special-teams work at the beginning of practice. After, he highlighted players who stepped up during the scrimmage.

“I thought Sam Singleton had a couple of big plays, and Roydell has gotten back in the swing, Jaylin Lucas had a TD run. Defensively, we were able to create a couple of takeaways. Earl had an INT, and Ethan Pritchard had a pick-six.”

Norvell also touched on the quarterback room and the moxie from Tommy Castellanos, Brock Glenn, and true freshman Kevin Sperry, who all receive substantial reps.

“QBs, I’ll have a chance to go back and watch. We mixed the three pretty good, Tommy, Brock, and Kevin. For the first scrimmage, I was really impressed with what I saw from Kevin.”

Norvell said he watched the scrimmage from the middle of the field, letting his coordinators run the sidelines and call all the plays. He seemed content with how the day went, and reading between the lines, the defense took the upper hand, although it is almost impossible to tell.

Gus Malzahn took the podium next and, in his head coaching style, provided an opening statement of the day and his side of the ball through six spring practices.

“60 runs, 40 passes, by design. All three QBs played, pretty much equal reps. I learned a lot about our guys individually. It was good to see them respond to success and adversity. Overall, I like our guys’ attitude.”

Malzahn stated that the first part of practice is heavy installation with some more specifics coming later in camp. He mentioned they rotate constantly at all positions, but Luke Petitbon “is off to a great start.” The former UCF head coach singled out QB Kevin Sperry for his work throughout March practice.

FSU’s first-year defensive coordinator, Tony White, rounded out the day and focused on the group’s mentality more than anything. He repeatedly reiterated that he only cares about what the product on the field looks like over physical measurables and that responding after giving up a play matters more to him than allowing the massive gain.

“We’re trying to create a mindset where you give up a play, ‘so what?’ Play football.”

“We gave up a big play, and Elijah (Herring) chases a guy down 30 or 40 yards, and gets him down at the ten. On the very next play, we get an interception. So, we’ve had a lot of teaching moments.”

Basketball

If Luke Loucks is going to have a successful tenure at FSU, he’s going to have some level of early success to prove himself to recruits — and, as Matt Minnick puts forth in his latest column, that success isn’t going to be possible without increased investment from all parties:

What’s the cost of letting FSU basketball stagnate? Millions in lost revenue, a muted brand, and potential widespread effect on Florida State athletics as each dollar becomes that much more meaningful. Now, more than ever before, the FSU basketball program needs to be a priority for significant booster investment. Directing even an extra $1 million to the basketball NIL budget this year and next could greatly propel Loucks’ early success —and early success means bigger games, proof points for recruits, and more money for everyone.

Loucks earned his first commit at FSU over the weekend in transfer guard Kobe MaGee:

MaGee projects to be a force on both ends of the floor, averaging 14 points on 43.9% three-point shooting a year ago while standing 6’6’’ and averaging 1.0 steals per game. With a tight budget, Loucks can not afford to miss on evaluations, but a three-and-D veteran who can guard multiple positions feels like an excellent place to start.

Baseball

FSU baseball overcame a slow start vs. Notre Dame on the road, avoiding the Seminoles’ first series loss of the season by sweeping a Sunday doubleheader:

Softball

Make it 13 straight wins now for No. 8 Florida State softball, the latest trio coming from a sweep of NC State:

All Sports

No. 19 Florida State men’s swimming and diving wrapped up competition at the NCAA Championships with freshman Logan Robinson setting a school record — by breaking his own:

Robinson broke his own record in the 200 butterfly to cap the four-day national championships for the Seminoles at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center.

As a team, FSU placed 18th overall with 54 points, its best finish since coming in 14th in 2019, which also was the team’s last top-20 showing. This year is the third time the Seminoles have placed in the top 20 nationally since 2014.

As Robinson placed 11th in the final to conclude his first NCAA Championships, he finished in 1:40.23. He topped his previous program record of 1:40.34, and Saturday’s swim was the third time Robinson set the FSU record in the event. Prior to Robinson’s arrival on campus this season, the previous all-time mark had stood since 2015.

In the prelims, Robinson also was 11th in 1:40.51. It was a tightly-contested preliminary race that saw 10 swimmers finish within one second of each other for the final two spots in the top-eight A final.

Florida State’s 400 freestyle relay was 17th overall with a time of 2:49.00. Freshman Michel Arkhangelskiy, fifth-year Mason Herbet, junior Max Wilson and fifth-year Yordan Yanchev capped the weekend for the Seminoles, as the FSU men earned entries in all five relays at the national championships.

Also in Saturday’s prelims, Arkhangelskiy was 23rd in the 200 backstroke in 1:39.89. Junior Tommaso Baravelli finished 26th in the 200 breaststroke in 1:53.15 and freshman Carlos Vargas was 33rd on platform with 280.95 points.

FSU beach volleyball ran through a murderer’s row of a schedule at the Death Volley Invitational hosted by LSU, falling to No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 Stanford but beating No. 4 USC and No. 9 LBSU:

The Seminoles opened the weekend with a 4-1 loss to No. 1 UCLA. The Noles proved competitive in the loss, forcing a third set on three courts, and emerging victorious on court four. Makenna Wolfe and Myriah Massey engaged in a back-and-forth battle with the Bruins, claiming Florida State’s dual point 17-21, 21-18, 16-14. Audrey Koenig and Alexis Durish earned an early advantage on the first flight but ultimately dropped the point.

Florida State then bounced back and pulled off a 3-2 upset against No. 4 USC. The Seminoles defeated the Trojans in straight sets on all three winning courts. Southern Cal earned the first point of the dual on court two. Wolfe and Massey then tied the dual on court four, defeating Madison Goellner and Kaileigh Truslow 21-13, 21-19. Durish and Koenig took court one before Carra Sassack and Bailey Higgins secured the dual for the Seminoles on court three in a three-set battle.

FSU finished the day with a loss to No. 5 Stanford. The Cardinal jumped out to a 4-0 lead by winning courts one, four, and two. Gella Andrew and Maddie Trusty put up a hard fight on court two, but ultimately dropped the point 21-18, 24-22. The pairs of Sassack and Higgins and Jordan Boulware and Kenzie Hultquist fought back despite the loss and earned two dual points on courts three and five respectively.

The Seminoles played the ninth-ranked Beach to decision in their only match of the day, downing them 3-1. FSU is now 7-5 all time against Long Beach State and have won three of the last four meetings. The Beach earned the first point of the dual on court five by retirement before the Seminoles reeled off three straight courts for the win. Carra Sassack and Bailey Higgins would even the score by winning court three in straight sets. Alexis Durish and Audrey Koenig then won court one to give the Noles the advantage. Gella Andrew and Maddie Trusty then defeated the pair of Natalie Glenn and Savanna Standege 21-11, 21-15 on court two to earn the final point for the Seminoles.

Florida State will return to Tallahassee next weekend to host the annual Unconquered Invitational. The Seminoles will open play against Texas at 12:45 p.m. followed by LSU at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and then USF at 9:00 a.m., Florida Atlantic at 11:30 a.m. and then close the weekend against South Carolina at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Florida State men’s tennis swept UNC in its final road trip of the regular season:

After North Carolina claimed the first doubles match on Court 1, Joshua Dous-Karpenschif and Erik Schiessl pulled away from a deadlock at 2-2 with two consecutive games to inch ahead and held serve to win 6-4.

The opening point lay on the rackets of Azariah Rusher and Jan Sebesta on Court 3. The pairing broke the Tar Heel serve in the final game to clinch the doubles point. Rusher and Sebesta claimed their first-ever win as a team and became the eighth different Seminoles pairing to win a match this spring.

FSU kept the momentum and rushed to strong leads in the opening set to rack up four first-set victories. Jamie Connel completed his first career double bagel as a Seminole, winning all 12 games with a 6-0, 6-0 scoreline and finishing the match in 60 minutes. Connel notched his 20th win of the season.

Joshua Dous-Karpenschif worked through the first frame 6-3, winning three consecutive games before using a four-match winning run in the following frame to complete the victory with a 6-2 second set. The senior won his fifth ACC match this season and 20th of his career.

Youcef Rihane powered through the first set 6-2 before winning three consecutive games and finishing the match for his first team clinch of the season. Rihane used four total breaks and served out the match, blanking his opponent in the final game.

Florida State will return home to host Notre Dame on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before facing Louisville on Saturday at 1 p.m.

No. 65 Florida State women’s tennis fell to Stanford on Sunday:

The afternoon began with highly competitive matches across all three doubles courts. Maelie Monfils and Laura Putz claimed the first match of the day, defeating Chidimma Okpara and Morgan Shaffer 6-3 on Court 3. Putz and Monfils notched their fourth ACC victory and improved to 5-1 overall on the season.

Stanford earned a Court 2 victory, leaving Court 1 to determine the doubles point. No. 89-ranked Eva Shaw and Maria Juliana Parra Romero began the match with a 2-0 lead against No. 22-ranked Connie Ma and Valerie Glozman. The Cardinal pair went on to win the next five games, taking a 5-2 advantage. Shaw and Parra Romero won the next two games, but Stanford clinched the doubles point to earn a 6-4 victory and the team point.

Stanford earned singles victories on Courts 1 and 2 to take a 3-0 lead. Kristyna Lavickova earned a victory on Court 3, defeating No. 79-ranked Valencia Xu 6-0, 6-4 to put the Seminoles on the board. The win marked Lavickova’s first ranked victory of the season. On Court 6, Putz took the first set 6-2 and held a 3-2 lead in the second set when the match ended after the Cardinals clinched a victory on Court 4.

Florida State will host its final two regular-season home matches next weekend, starting on Friday at 4 p.m. against No. 11 NC State, followed by a match on Sunday against No. 40 Wake Forest at noon. Friday’s match will honor Seminole Heritage, with Senior Day to take place on Sunday. Admission is free at all Florida State home tennis matches.

FSU men’s tennis pulled off a comeback over No. 13 Duke on the road Friday:

Florida State men’s tennis team (13-7, 5-4 ACC) won four consecutive singles matches to complete an incredible 4-3 road victory over No. 13 Duke (14-5, 7-2 ACC) on Friday night. The Seminoles won their first match down multiple team points for the first time since claiming the program’s first ACC championship in 2024 over Virginia.

After Duke earned the first point in doubles play, the Blue Devils grew their momentum with four first-set victories on Courts 2-5. Duke won its second sets on Courts 2 and 5 to push the lead to the brink with a 3-0 scoreline.

Youcef Rihane was the first Seminole to record a point after surviving a difficult first set and pulling away 7-5 in the set tiebreaker. Rihane performed with the pressure on and won a commanding 6-2 second set to keep the team match alive at 3-1. The senior won his 70th career singles match.

With a renewed establishment of momentum, sophomore Erik Schiessl was the next player to rise to the occasion. Following a first set defeat, he battled through the second frame and emerged victorious 6-4 before blanking the third set 6-0. Schiessl has won three consecutive matches and claimed his 10th victory as a Seminole.

Corey Craig dominated the first frame 6-2 over the No. 36 player in the nation before being forced to a third set. Craig worked through his match before finding the finishing move to win the battle 6-4 and tie the team match at 3-3. Craig has earned five Court 1 victories in his first season at FSU.

All eyes moved to Court 3 with the deciding match on the line. Alex Bulte dropped a tough first-set tiebreaker 8-6 before dominating the next frame 6-1 and moving to the deciding set. Bulte wasted no time, winning five of the first seven games to give himself a cushion before clinching the match winner to complete the comeback.

FSU has won two top-15 road battles following the 4-2 win over No. 9 Texas A&M to conclude non-conference play.

Florida State will play its final road match of the regular season against North Carolina on Sunday at 12 p.m.