October 20, 2024
Bucs Fly Past Falcons, Clinch First Round Playoff Bye
The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers finished up a tough three game road trip with a three set sweep over the #16 Daytona State Falcons Saturday afternoon in Daytona Beach. The Bucs used a balanced offensive attack with four players with seven or more kills and a tenacious defensive effort, holding the Falcons to a -.010 hitting mark for their seventh straight win to clinch a first round bye for the upcoming FCSAA State Tournament in Fort Myers.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers finished up a tough three game road trip with a three set sweep over the #16 Daytona State Falcons Saturday afternoon in Daytona Beach. The Bucs used a balanced offensive attack with four players with seven or more kills and a tenacious defensive effort, holding the Falcons to a -.010 hitting mark for their seventh straight win to clinch a first round bye for the upcoming FCSAA State Tournament in Fort Myers.
The Bucs couldn't have asked for much of a better start after the long trip to the Surf Coast, jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the first set thanks to kills from four different players in the game's first eight points. A Daytona timeout slowed the Bucs momentum and after seven straight from the Falcons, the script was flipped with Daytona taking their first lead of the game at 8-7. The Falcons continued to push, upping their lead to 14-11 midway through the set and it remained a three point Daytona lead until the Bucs flipped a switch and went on an 8-0 burst highlighted by big blocks from Abby Toeniskoetter and Giovanna Rocha on the outside and then Toeniskoetter and Julija Grubisic Cabo on the other pin to give FSW the lead back 21-16. The Falcons were called in the net to give FSW six cracks at set point, but they needed only one as Camilla Brandalise found Rocha on the right side to finish things off as the Bucs completed the come from behind win 25-18 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
FSW got off to another hot start in the second as their multifaceted offense had the Falcons spinning in circles with Rocha starting the set with a kill followed by another from Magi Milicevic and then a third from Toeniskoetter to put the Bucs in front 3-0 right off the bat. Later in the set Irina Makinen found Patrycja Labucka and Nina Boledovicova for kills to make it 16-12 FSW. Back to back big kills in the middle from Boledovicova extended the Bucs lead to 20-14 and FSW put it in cruise control from there, wrapping up a 25-16 set win to take a 2-0 lead over the Falcons as the teams moved to the third.
The Bucs took advantage of three straight Daytona State miscues to begin the third to get out to a quick 3-0 lead and a block from Boledovicova and Milicevic made it 7-3 FSW at the 10 point mark of the period. Boledovicova continued her efficient afternoon in the middle with three kills in a four point span to cushion the Bucs lead to 12-7 and they pushed their lead all the way to 18-9 as Toeniskoetter moved to the front row and banged one to the floor later in the set. All that was left in question was what the Bucs winning margin would be and two more Boledovicova kills and a Daytona attack wide was all she wrote for the Falcons as FSW finished off a 25-14 victory in the third to complete the three set sweep.
Where the Bucs were efficient offensively, the Falcons were not. FSW finished the match with 41 kills and 10 errors as a team, good for a .333 hitting mark, while Daytona ended the afternoon with 25 kills and 26 errors, posting a -.010 percentage in the defeat. Four different players had seven or more kills for FSW as Toeniskoetter matched her team best seven blocks with seven kills while Boledovicova was one of three Bucs with eight kills, posting an .889 hitting percentage with eight kills on nine swings in the win. Brandalise and Makinen combined for 35 assists for FSW while Clara Maidantchik finished with a team high 11 digs to lead the Bucs back row.
The Bucs win their seventh straight game, all in three set sweeps, to improve to 17-1 overall and 9-1 in Citrus Conference play where they have clinched a top two finish and with that, a first round bye for the upcoming FCSAA State Tournament at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers. Daytona falls back to .500 at 9-9 overall while seeing their Citrus Conference record drop to 5-4.
The victory for FSW sets up the showdown everyone has had circled on their calendars since the 2024 schedule was released earlier this year as the 17-1 and 2nd ranked Bucs take on the 18-0 and #1 ranked Miami Dade Sharks Wednesday in Fort Myers in a rematch of each of the past two NJCAA National Championship games. The Bucs and Sharks will get things underway at 6 PM Wednesday night under the bright lights of Suncoast Credit Union Arena where the last time the two met, FSW was celebrating their second straight FCSAA State Championship over the Sharks.