League High Six Bucs Named All-Conference, Purashaj Freshman of the Year
After winning their third straight Suncoast Conference Championship on the final week of the regular season last week, a league high six Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were honored for their efforts Thursday night at the FCSAA State Tournament banquet as Alondra Alarcon, Julia Lawrenz, Maria Cecilia, Arianna Rossi, Barbara Koehler, and Roberta Purashaj were named to the Suncoast Conference All-Conference Team while Purashaj was named the Freshman of the Year and Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was named the conference’s Coach of the Year for the third straight year.
MELBOURNE, Fla.- After winning their third straight Suncoast Conference Championship on the final week of the regular season last week, a league high six Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were honored for their efforts Thursday night at the FCSAA State Tournament banquet as Alondra Alarcon, Julia Lawrenz, Maria Cecilia, Arianna Rossi, Barbara Koehler, and Roberta Purashaj were named to the Suncoast Conference All-Conference Team while Purashaj was named the Freshman of the Year and Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was named the conference's Coach of the Year for the third straight year.
The Bucs top vote getter was Barbara Koehler who was named a 1st Team All-Conference and FCSAA All-State selection for the second straight season in 2022. Koehler was electric from the start of the regular season to the end for the Bucs, leading the state in kills by a wide margin with 3.91 per set while also checking in third in the state in hitting percentage at .339. Koehler was a four time winner of the FCSAA Player of the Week award and was also named the Defensive Player of the Week in the final week of the season. No other player in the state received the award more than once.
Roberta Purashaj joined Koehler on the 1st Team All-Conference and FCSAA All-State Team and was also named the Freshman of the Year, the first FSW player to accomplish the feat. Purashaj was far and away the state leader in assists with 9.60 per set on the season and also led all setters in digs with 2.40 and blocks per set with 0.51. Like Koehler, Purashaj was a frequent recipient of the state's weekly awards, three times named the FCSAA Setter of the Week while also earning NJCAA National Player of the Week in the season's first week.
The third Buc earning 1st Team All-Conference and FCSAA All-State honors was Arianna Rossi, who like Koehler, does the trick for the second straight year. Rossi was the backbone of the Bucs defense again this season, ranking third in the state in both digs per set and aces per set with 4.28 and 0.57 respectively. Late in the season she broke the Bucs' all-time digs record and continues to build on that with 747 and counting as FSW heads into the 2022 postseason.
Three Bucs were also named to the 2nd Team All-Conference squad, led by sophomore middle Julia Lawrenz. Lawrenz was the top blocker in the state during the regular season, putting up 1.20 stuffs per set on the year and also contributed on the offensive end with 2.11 kills per set, making her the only player in the state to average 2 or more kills and 1 or more block per set on the year. She also led the state in hitting percentage with a .430 mark in 20 contests played.
Fellow sophomore Maria Cecilia also earned a 2nd Team All-Conference nod after making her impact all over the court in 2022. Cecilia was the only player in the conference to rank in the Top 15 in kills, digs, blocks, and aces per set during the regular season. She had five matches this year where she didn't record a single hitting error including a 10 kill on 11 swing performance against Indian River.
The final FSW player to be recognized was freshman Alondra Alarcon who was a 2nd Team All-Conference pick along with Lawrenz and Cecilia. Alarcon ranked second in the state among FCSAA rookies, averaging 2.94 kills per set on the season. She came to life late in the season, recording 10 or more kills in 7 of the Bucs final 10 matches of the season including a conference high 18 in a thrilling five set win over Miami Dade to clinch the Conference Championship.
FSW Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was also honored by the Suncoast Conference as the Coach of the Year, making it the third straight season that she has received the award. Baziquetto-Allen led the Bucs to a 21-1 record through difficult circumstances in 2022 while propelling FSW to the #1 spot in the NJCAA National Rankings for 8 of the 10 weeks of the regular season.
The Bucs will be back in action on Friday at the FCSAA State Tournament in Melbourne where they will take the winner of the Eastern Florida/Hillsborough first round match in the semifinals at 6 PM.