September 30, 2023
Bucs Soar Past Hawks to Remain Unbeaten
Nine different players registered kills and the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hit .436 as a team as they cruised past the Hillsborough Hawks 3-0 in Citrus Conference action in Suncoast Credit Union Arena Saturday afternoon.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Nine different players registered kills and the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hit .436 as a team as they cruised past the Hillsborough Hawks 3-0 in Citrus Conference action in Suncoast Credit Union Arena Saturday afternoon.
The Bucs got off to a quick start, taking a 5-1 lead to begin the game, but then went stagnant to allow Hillsborough to come back to tie the score up at 9 moments later. The Bucs pushed back ahead, but back to back aces for the Hawks knotted things up once again at 14 midway through the set. Izzy Collier pounded home an overpass to give FSW the lead back and it started a 6-1 run for the Bucs to give them some breathing room at 20-15 late in the set. Roberta Purashaj connected with Anica Bobic to put the Bucs on the doorstep of the first set win and Victoria Zibecchi finished the Hawks off with an ace to give FSW the set 25-17. The Bucs finished the set with 17 kills on 26 swings, good for a .538 hitting percentage.
To say it was all FSW to start the second may be an understatement. The Bucs began the second scoring the first 10 points to take an early 10-0 lead and parlayed that into a 20-5 advantage after a kill from Abby Toeniskoetter later in the set. The teams played even to close the set, but it was too little too late for the Hawks as Alondra Alarcon blasted a cross court rocket to close things out as FSW took the set 25-9 to go ahead 2-0 in the match. FSW was once again efficient on the offensive end, finishing with a .478 hitting percentage in the set while holding Hillsborough to just 4 kills and a -.143 mark.
With victory in sight, the Bucs again controlled the pace early in the third, getting out to an 8-3 lead on a block by Collier and Sara Gasparini before stretching it to 16-7 after back to back kills from Zibecchi and Gasparini. An ace from Alarcon gave the Bucs 20 before Luana Vieira put the match away with a kill out the backrow to give FSW the set 25-14 and the match 3-0.
The offensive desparity in the match was eye popping as FSW finished with 46 kills and a .435 hitting percentage while Hillsborough managed just 17 and a .013 mark. Nine different players had kills for the Bucs led by Alarcon's 13 while the Bucs three middles, Collier, Toeniskoetter, and Nina Boledovicova combined for 14 kills without an error and a .636 hitting percentage. Purashaj quarterbacked the offense to near perfection, dishing out 33 assists while seven different Bucs had an ace at the service line. Anna Marzella led the Bucs with 9 digs on the back line while Collier paced FSW in blocks for the fourth straight game with 5.
FSW remains unbeaten on the season at 18-0 with the win while pushing their Citrus Conference record to 7-0. Hillsborough drops their fifth straight as they fall to 10-10 overall and 1-6 in league play with the defeat.
The Bucs will now begin their longest road stretch of the season where they will play four straight games away from the friendly confines of Suncoast Arena, with three of those coming against teams ranked in last week's NJCAA Top 20. The stretch will begin on Wednesday when they make the trip to Fort Pierce to take on Indian River in a 5:30 start against the Pioneers.