March 26, 2021
#6 FSW Marches to State Semifinals with Sweep Of #8 Polk
For the third time this season, the #6 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers won a Top 10 matchup with the #8 Polk State Eagles, this time in the FCSAA State Tournament with a trip to the tournament semifinals on the line. FSW won a highly contested first set 25-23 before coming from behind for 25-19 wins in both the second and third sets to sweep the Eagles 3-0 and advance to Saturday's semifinal against undefeated and top ranked Miami Dade.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- For the third time this season, the #6 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers won a Top 10 matchup with the #8 Polk State Eagles, this time in the FCSAA State Tournament with a trip to the tournament semifinals on the line. FSW won a highly contested first set 25-23 before coming from behind for 25-19 wins in both the second and third sets to sweep the Eagles 3-0 and advance to Saturday's semifinal against undefeated and top ranked Miami Dade.
The Bucs got out to a good start in the first, jumping out to an 8-3 lead after three straight Polk State errors. FSW held their five point advantage to the midway point of the set at 14-9 after back to back kills from Yasso Amin and Julia De Sa and looked like they were going to cruise to a win as it continue to be a five point game at 23-18 late in the set. Back to back blocks for the Eagles gave them some hope and a kill on an overpass drew them back even at 23 to force an FSW timeout. Fiona Baker found Amin to get the Bucs a sideout and a shot at the set and De Sa smashed an attack crosscourt to seal a 25-23 win for FSW to give them a 1-0 lead in the match.
Polk's block again gave the Bucs trouble early in the second, this time staking the Eagles out to an 8-4 lead to start the set. An FSW service error midway through the set gave Polk a 15-10 lead and it looked like the match was destined to get evened up with the Eagles out in front by five. The Bucs caught a break as an attack wide was negated as Polk was in the net and it started a 6-0 run for FSW to erase the Eagles lead and take a one point lead of their own at 16-15. They continued to push, stretching the lead to three on a block from Valentim and Amin to make it 21-18 and they didn't relent, going to De Sa once again on set point for the kill to take the set 25-19 and go in front 2-0 in the match. After falling behind 15-10, FSW outscored the Eagles 15-4 to come from behind for the win.
The Bucs had to play from behind again in the third as a slow start for FSW saw the Eagles take an early three point lead at 8-5. A kill from Valentim tied the score at 10 and it remained tied at 15-15 ten points later. A kill from De Sa put the Bucs ahead and a smash from Amin on a Polk overpass pushed the lead to five moments later at 22-17. A service error thwarted the Bucs first chance at the set, but in their second opportunity Maria Petkova put it away, going off the Eagle block for a kill to give the Bucs the third 25-19 and the match 3-0.
De Sa led the Bucs with 11 kills in the win while Amin added nine and hit .400 on the affair. Five Bucs had six or more digs in the victory, led by Ivanova who had 10 and Baker who chipped in nine to go along with 28 assists. Six Bucs combined on seven total blocks, led by Kianie Cummings who was in on five.
The Bucs sweep their second straight match at the tournament to improve to 18-4 on the year while Polk State falls to 8-4, three of those four losses coming at the hands of FSW.
The win is the sixth of the season for FSW over a ranked opponent with five of those victories coming over Top 10 ranked foes.
FSW advances to the tournament semifinals on Saturday where they will take on the top ranked team in the country in Miami Dade at 4 PM with a trip to the Championship game in the balance.