While the Florida State football team attempts to put out the massive Mike Norvell fire, basketball season has begun, and the most important volleyball matches are looming. The men's and women's basketball teams tipped off the season on November 2, and each team walked away with a win to start an important 2026-27 campaign.
The men's team traveled to the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa for the tip-off event game against Florida A&M. Coach Luke Loucks brought a great product to the court, and the Seminoles have kicked off the season on the right foot. Now, the team must prepare for an upcoming game against a similar opponent in Troy.
Here are some of the biggest Florida State athletics stories from the past few days that you are not going to want to miss.
Kyleene Filimaua sets a new career-high with 27 kills in the win over Georgia Tech
Florida State hit the volleyball court on November 3 in Tallahassee for a tough match against Georgia Tech, which proved to be one of the most thrilling of the season. The Seminoles opened play with a difficult first set as the Yellow Jackets never looked back, securing a 25-12 win.
The Seminoles responded, taking the second set before dropping the third with just 12 kills during the set. The fourth set proved to be just as chaotic, with both teams going back and forth before Florida State closed out the 25-23 set win. Florida State came back for the fifth set and narrowly won behind an attack percentage of 36.7%, the highest of the game for the Seminoles.
Outside hitter Kyleene Filimaua led the way in the attack, with a new career-high of 27 kills along with 11 digs for another double-double performance. Filimaua has been the shining star of the team this season, and it is hard to imagine where the team would be without a few of her key performances this year.
The Seminoles moved to 13-10 on the season with the win over Georgia Tech, and now must claim a few more wins moving forward to move up in the ACC. Florida State plays California on November 6 and No. 23 Stanford on November 8 in Tallahassee before entering the final six-match stretch of the season.
Tatum Greene helps lead Florida State women's basketball to an season-opening win over Merrimack
We got our first look at the women's basketball team on November 2 when Merrimack traveled to the Tucker Center. The Seminoles won, 81-51, to improve to 1-0 on the season after winning both exhibitions ahead of the official start.
It was a team effort on offense, with five double-digit scorers led by freshman guard Morgan Stewart, who dropped 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Tatum Greene and Sole Williams both scored 11, and Missy Odom and Timaya Lewis-Eutsey both recorded 10 points.
Stewart took center stage for most of the game with her stellar performance and impressive defensive effort. The guard is likely going to be one of the top scoring options on the team moving forward, but another key player put together an equally impressive performance.
The junior guard Greene tallied 11 points, five rebounds, one assist, one block, and four steals against Merrimack. Greene went five for seven from the field with the most efficient offensive performance on the team, while also providing the most effective defensive performance. Greene started 17 games for the Seminoles last season, but she likely will be a key part of the team this season.
More: Florida State announces multiple staff changes ahead of the football game against Boston College
With coach Mike Norvell out of the picture, Florida State wasted no time making corresponding moves, additionally firing defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper.
All three of the moves felt overdue, with the secondary and the defense as a whole struggling, and the losses quickly stacking up for a third-straight year for Norvell. Florida State couldn't move forward with leadership on the staff, however, and interim coaches were named shortly after the firings were announced early in the week.
Longtime former Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill will be transitioning from an offensive analyst to the interim head coach. Linebackers coach Ernie Sims will be taking over as the interim defensive coordinator and will begin calling plays. Finally, assistant defensive backs coach Greg Moss will be the interim safeties coach.
Florida State also announced that former Syracuse and UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni will be joining the staff as a defensive analyst, likely to help assist Sims in his new role.
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