TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida State volleyball team (12-5, 4-2) will look to add to its three-game winning streak this weekend with a couple of ACC road matches at Virginia (8-9, 0-6) and at No. 8 Pitt (16-2, 6-0). Friday's match against the Cavaliers will begin at 6 p.m. with Sunday's showdown with the Panthers beginning at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. NOLE NOTES Head Coach Chris Poole is in his 15th season as the leader of the Seminoles. Poole is the second-winningest active head coach in Division I with 888 victories. Poole will be looking for his 32nd victory over an AVCA top 25 team at Florida State. A win over No. 8 Pitt would be Florida State’s first win over an ACC opponent that was ranked inside the top 10 in the AVCA top 25. A win over No. 8 Pitt would be the Seminole’s first road win against a top 10 team since Aug. 29, 2014, when FSU defeated No. 7 Nebraska on the road. The Noles were picked to finish fifth in the ACC by the coaches. The Noles have won the last 14 matches against Virginia and 19 out of the last 20 matches against the Cavaliers. The Noles are on a three-game winning streak with wins over North Carolina, Miami and Duke. The Noles got off to its best start through eight games since 2014 with a 7-1 start. Audrey Koenig currently leads the team with 188 kills. The Noles have four players who have tallied more than 100 kills (Koenig, Emily Ryan, Emma Clothier, Khori Louis). The Noles are one of three teams who have two players in the top 10 in hitting percentage in the ACC. Emily Ryan (.341) ranks ninth while Khori Louis (.335) ranks 10th in the conference. Ryan ranks ninth in the conference with 1.10 blocks per set. Ryan also had the eighth-best game in the conference this season against Duke in terms of hitting percentage. Ryan hit .625 and recorded 10 kills. Against No. 17 Creighton, Koenig had a career-high 60 total attacks. Her 60 attempts is the fifth-most in program history in the rally scoring era. Koenig is the fastest Nole to reach 100 kills since Jasmyn Martin in the 2021 spring season. Koenig reached 100 kills in 10 games. The Noles rank 32nd in the country with a .262 hitting percentage this season. The Noles’ 16 blocks against North Carolina is tied for the fourth-highest mark among ACC teams this season. The Noles have the top game in terms of hitting percentage of all ACC teams this season. The Noles hit .527 against Yale on Sept. 3, 2022. It is also the fifth-best match of the year in the NCAA this season. Emery Dupes had 31 digs a against No. 17 Creighton which which is the highest mark in the ACC this season. Switching it Up The Seminoles have had some bad injury luck this season which has caused Head Coach Chris Poole to be a little creative with the starting lineups this season. Through 17 matches, the Seminoles have used nine different lineups. The lineup of Draskovic, Koenig, Ryan, Louis, Perez and Dupes has been the most popular lineup of late as the Seminoles have used that lineup in four out of the last six matches. Home Cookin’ Once again, Tully Gym has been one of the toughest places to play in the ACC this season. The Seminoles are 8-1 this season with its only loss coming to No. 2 Louisville on Sept. 25. The Noles have tallied six sweeps inside of Tully Gym and have won 27 out of the 33 sets played in Tully Gym this season. Finding a Way The Seminoles won back-to-back five-set matches against North Carolina and Miami. This is the first time that the Seminoles have won back-to-back five-set matches since the 2017 season. The match against the Tar Heels was the first time the Seminoles have won a five-set match on the road since Nov. 2 2019, against High Point. Welcome to ACC Volleyball Graduate setter Melanie Cuervo unexpectedly played a huge role in three of Seminoles’ four ACC wins. A transfer from Lynn University, a Division II school in Boca Raton, Fla., Cuervo saw her first Division I action against North Carolina on Oct. 2 where she recorded 17 assists. Along with transitioning to Division I volleyball, Cuervo battled a foot injury which she suffered at the end of August. Cuervo had not practiced before being the second primary setter for the Seminoles against North Carolina. Cuervo has tallied 45 assists in the past three matches for the Seminoles. Starting Quick The Noles have gotten off to great starts in the majority of their matches this season. The Noles have been the first team to 15 in 33 out their 61 sets this season. The Noles are 25-8 in sets where they are the first team to reach 15 points. Scouting the Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers will enter Friday’s match 8-9 and 0-6 in ACC play and have lost their last seven matches. Head Coach Shannon Wells is in her second season as the leader of the Cavaliers. She went 8-20 in her first season with the Cavaliers. Prior to receiving the head coaching job in Charlottesville, Wells was an assistant for the Florida Gators for seven years. The Cavaliers are led by one of the top hitters in the ACC in Grace Turner. Turner has tallied 232 kills and 3.31 kills per set which ranks ninth in the conference. Turner also ranks sixth in the conference in ace serves with 29. The Cavalier will run a 6-2 offense with setter Ashley Le and Gabby Easton. Easton leads the team with 344 assists while Le has added 318. Scouting the Panthers Coming off its first Final Four appearance in school history in 2021, the Pitt Panthers are off to a great start in 2022 and are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation. The Panthers are coming off a huge road win against No. 10 Georgia Tech last Sunday. After dropping two matches in three weeks to start the season, the Panthers have rattled off nine-straight wins. After losing several pieces from last year’s Final Four team, the Panthers reloaded with transfers. The biggest hit for the Panthers has been graduate right side hitter Courtney Buzzerio. An All-Big Ten performer for Iowa, Buzzerio leads the team with 227 kills and is hitting .342. Last Time Out TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Seminoles got the first point of the night, and never looked back, as the Florida State volleyball team (12-5, 4-2) defeated Duke (10-6, 1-4) in straight sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-11) at home in Tully Gymnasium on Friday night. Duke jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in the first set, before Florida State rallied back, scoring seven of the game’s next nine points to tie the match. A Duke run had the Blue Devils in front before FSU stormed back scoring five straight to take a 17-16 lead. After a Duke point took the game to 22-20, the Noles stormed back, to win the set 25-23 after Audrey Koenig’s set-sealing kill. The Noles found their footing in set two, taking a commanding 14-8 lead. Duke fought back getting the game to within a point at 16-15 and rallied again to tie the game at 22 before the Noles scored three straight and won 25-22 after Andjelija Draskovic’s ace. Florida State jumped out to an 8-4 lead, scored then went on a 9-0 run straight to lead 18-9, and never trailed throughout the entire set, defeating Duke, 25-11 and completing their seventh 3-0 sweep of the season. Emily Ryan had the match-winning kill for the Seminoles. Ryan led the Noles with 10 kills with Audrey Koenig and Khori Louis adding eight kills apiece for Florida State. Emery Dupes recorded 13 digs and both Melanie Cuervo and Andjelija Draskovic had double digit assists with 11 and 17 in the Noles victory. For updates and exclusive content, follow the Noles on Twitter (FSU_Volleyball), Instagram (fsuvolleyball) and Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Volleyball).