November 5, 2023
Ticket Punched! Bucs Headed to Hutch to Defend Their Crown
Dust of those ruby slippers Dorothy, the Bucs are headed back to Kansas! The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers swept their NJCAA Atlantic District Championship Game 3-0 over the Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers on Sunday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, punching their ticket to their fourth consecutive NJCAA National Tournament.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Dust of those ruby slippers Dorothy, the Bucs are headed back to Kansas! The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers swept their NJCAA Atlantic District Championship Game 3-0 over the Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers on Sunday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, punching their ticket to their fourth consecutive NJCAA National Tournament.
With a trip to the National Tournament on the line, the Bucs came out ready to go as Roberta Purashaj connected with Giulia Bonifacio for a pair of kills early to get FSW out to a 6-3 lead. Izzy Collier hammered one to the floor to make it 14-7 Bucs midway through the set and they held the seven point advantage to 21-14 later in the period. Alondra Alarcon ripped a shot off the block to give the Bucs set point and Collier finished off her seventh kill of the set to put it in the books as FSW took the first 25-15 to go ahead 1-0 in the match. The Bucs finished with 17 kills in the set, hitting .469 as a team.
The Bucs started hot again in the second as they scored six of the first seven points of the period thanks in part to two more kills from Bonifacio and then a huge block between her and Collier to give FSW a 6-1 lead. The Bucs continued to push as Sara Gasparini cut one across the court for a kill and then moved back to the service line and dialed up an ace to put FSW in front 12-5 midway through the set. Up seven moments later, the Bucs stepped on the accelerator to the finish line, scoring 9 of the final 10 points of the set to finish off a 25-10 win to go up 2-0 on the Pioneers.
Spartanburg kept it close early in the third as FSW led just 10-7 to get things going, but with Camila Brandalise at the service line, the Bucs rolled off seven in a row highlighted by a pair of aces and two huge blocks from Collier and Luana Vieira to stretch the lead to 10. With their season on the line, the Pioneers fought back, getting back to within six before a pair of kills from Madu Fontes and a rocket down the line from Victoria Zibecchi made it 22-13 FSW. A Spartanburg attack error put the Bucs on the doorstep of victory and Brandalise connected with Vieira for the winner as FSW closed it out 25-15 to sweep the match 3-0.
All 13 Bucs dressed for the game saw action with nine different players recording a kill, led by Collier who had 8 and hit .467 and Bonifacio who had 7 in two sets of action. Bradalise dished out 18 assists for the Bucs while Collier led the club with 7 blocks.
FSW wins the NJCAA Atlantic District Championship to punch their ticket to the NJCAA National Tournament November 15-18 in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The Bucs tie a program record with their 27th win of the season, improving to 27-1 on the year while Spartanbug sees their campaign come to a close at 21-14.
The Bucs, who will almost assuredly be the top seed in the upcoming National Tournament, will patiently await their first round opponent as the NJCAA will announce the tournament bracket including that first round matchup for FSW in their selection show Thursday afternoon.