Keeping up with the Seminoles: Florida State women's golf wins NCAA Tallahassee Regional
Before last year, the Florida State women's golf team had never won an NCAA regional championship.
Now, the Seminoles have won back to back NCAA regionals. After FSU won its first ever last year at Louisville, FSU won this year's Tallahassee Regional this week with a score of 4-under, 17 strokes better than any other team.
Additionally, FSU senior Beatrice Wallin became the first female golfer in program history to win an NCAA regional individual championship outright. The Olofstrop, Sweden native finished 6-under par, beating FAU's Letizia Bagnoli by one stroke.
The FSU women will compete as one of 24 teams in the NCAA Championships May 20 through 25 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Inside Wallin's special victory for FSU: Family reunion makes Beatrice Wallin's home Florida State golf finale extra special
Tallahassee Regional recap: Florida State women's golf, Beatrice Wallin win NCAA Tallahassee Regional
The FSU men also made the NCAA Tournament, their 16th in a row, and will compete in the Palm Beach Gardens Regional May 16 through 18.
FSU beach volleyball's run comes up just short
It didn't seem that the FSU beach volleyball team had much of a chance to secure that elusive first NCAA Championship entering last weekend's tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The Seminoles had lost nine matches -- already tied for the program's most since beach volleyball became an NCAA sport -- and their No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament was the worst in program history.
And yet, the Seminoles nearly did exactly that. The fifth-seeded Seminoles beat No. 12 Cal Poly, No. 4 Loyola Marymount (twice), No. 6 LSU and No. 3 UCLA on the way to their first national championship match appearance since 2018.
The Seminoles just couldn't get past top-ranked USC, though. FSU lost both its matches to the Trojans by a score of 3-1 and USC won its fourth NCAA Championship in the sport which has long been controlled by west coast teams.
For FSU, it was a bittersweet ending to an incredible run. The Seminoles finished as the national runner-ups for the third time in the six years beach volleyball has been an NCAA-recognized sport.
FSU's senior pair of Alaina Chacon and Madison Fitzpatrick got a special send-off, going 6-1 in the NCAA Tournament. This included a pair of wins over USC's previously unbeaten No. 2 pair of Megan Kraft and Sammy Slater.
FSU men's tennis making a run
It had been awhile since the FSU men's tennis team reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Entering this season, the Seminoles' last trip to the NCAA Round of 16 came back in 2009. That streak was reset last weekend though when the No. 28 Seminoles went to Athens, Ga. and beat Georgia State (4-1) and No. 11 Georgia (4-3) on consecutive days to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the fourth time in program history.
The Seminoles won the doubles point against UGA, but dropped each of the first three singles matches that finished, falling behind 3-1. From there, a pair of freshmen in Joshua Dous Karpenschif and Maks Silaga won their points to tie the match at three.
FSU senior Sebastian Arcila rallied from a set down and a break down in the final set to beat UGA's Trent Bryde 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to clinch the match and help the Seminoles advance.
Next up for FSU is another tough matchup against a ranked SEC opponent. The Seminoles face No. 6 seed Tennessee Saturday at 4 p.m. as they look to advance to NCAA Quarterfinals for just the second time in program history.
That match will stream on the TennisOne website and app.
FSU softball
The FSU softball team closed out its regular season last weekend, coming away with a road sweep of NC State to finish the regular season with a 49-5 (19-5 in ACC) record. That's tied for the fewest regular-season losses in program history.
In Sunday's series finale -- a continuation of Saturday's game which was suspended due to inclement weather -- FSU hit seven home runs and Sydney Sherrill accounted for three of those bombs. Both of those marked new single-game program records.
FSU entered this week as the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament, its worst seed in the conference event since 2011. The Seminoles held off a late charge from sixth-seeded Virginia to beat the Cavaliers 5-3 late Thursday night in their ACC Tournament opener.
Next up for the Seminoles is a game against No. 2 seed Duke Friday at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network. It's a chance for revenge for the Seminoles, who were knocked out of last year's ACC Tournament by Duke in the semifinals.
Should FSU beat Duke, it will face No. 5 seed Clemson in the ACC Championship Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
FSU baseball
The FSU baseball team bounced back from a slow start to its weekend series at Boston College to win the series away from home.
The Seminoles lost Friday's series opener 3-2, but then won 10-4 on Saturday and 8-1 on Sunday to clinch their ninth weekend series victory out of 12 weekends this season.
FSU pitcher Bryce Hubbart earned his second ACC Pitcher of the Week honor this season after he allowed just one hit with 11 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings in Sunday's win at BC.
FSU then returned home and swept a doubleheader vs. Jacksonville on Tuesday, improving to 30-17 on the season.
Now, No. 25 FSU hosts its final home games of the regular season this weekend against rival Miami, which ranks fifth nationally.
Friday and Saturday's games are both set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network and Sunday's will be played at noon on ESPN2.
FSU women's tennis
While the FSU men's tennis team is through to the second weekend, the FSU women saw their season end last weekend in Gainesville, Fla.
The FSU women made their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance in rival territory. The Seminoles won their opening match against FIU 4-2, but fell 4-1 to the Florida Gators, coming up short of a Round of 16 appearance.
FSU track and field
The FSU men's and women's track teams began competing in the ACC Outdoor Championships Thursday in Durham, N.C.
On the first day of competition, Lauren Ryan (10,000-meter run), Ahmed Muhamed (10,000-meter run) and Isaac Grimes (long jump) each took home ACC individual championships.
The competition continues through Saturday when team championships for both the men and women's sides are determined.
Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: What happened this week in FSU sports? Titles and playoff runs
