Koehler & Purashaj Set to Become First Bucs to Play in NCAA Tournament
Still in it’s infancy, the FSW Volleyball program has had a number of firsts over the past few years. Thursday another milestone will be reached as Barbara Koehler and Roberta Purashaj will become the first two Buccaneer alumns to play in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Still in it's infancy, the FSW Volleyball program has had a number of firsts over the past few years. Thursday another milestone will be reached as Barbara Koehler and Roberta Purashaj will become the first two Buccaneer alumns to play in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Koehler, the 2022 NJCAA National Player of the Year for the Bucs is in her senior season at Florida Gulf Coast University where she will lead the Eagles into battle tonight in Salt Lake City against Marquette. Koehler has played in 24 matches for the ASUN Champs this season, racking up 150 kills and 34 blocks on the year. She had 12 kills and hit .524 in FGCU's ASUN Semifinal win over Eastern Kentucky and had her best match of the season against fellow tournament team Ole Miss when she hammered down a season high 15 kills and registered 7 blocks.
Koehler ranks in the top five in FSW program history in both kills with 590 and digs with 462 and is the Bucs all-time leader in aces with 78. As a sophomore she was named the National Player of the Year by both the NJCAA and AVCA, finishing with a, then, program record 3.74 kills per set while hitting .324 for the Bucs while leading FSW to their first NJCAA National Championship.
Purashaj, the 2023 NJCAA National Player of the Year for the Bucs is in her junior season at the University of Oregon. Purashaj and the Ducks will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, opening up play Thursday night against Big South Champs High Point. Purashaj is averaging 9.00 assists and 0.90 blocks per set in eight games for Oregon this season. She opened her Division I career with a bang, registering 29 assists against #4 Pittsburgh and later in the year led the Ducks to a win over Rutgers with 37 assists and 6 blocks.
The most decorated player in FSW history, Purashaj is the only Buccaneer to earn NJCAA All-American honors in both seasons, while also being named the NJCAA and AVCA National Player of the Year during the 2023 campaign. She dished out a program record 1,909 assists during her two seasons with the Bucs, orchestrating the Nation's best offense which averaged nearly 14 kills per set during her career. Purashaj led the Bucs to back to back NJCAA National Championships and a 58-2 record in her two seasons in Fort Myers.
Koehler and FGCU will get their tournament underway at 6:30 PM (ET) against 5th seeded Marquette Thursday while Purashaj will play a short time later when she and the 4th seeded Ducks take on High Point in a 9:30 PM (ET) start in Eugene.
Bucs fans can follow the pair in their quest for another ring on the ESPN family of networks. All matches this weekend will air on ESPN+ with next week's round of 16 and beyond showing on ESPN and ESPN2.