August 29, 2025
Bucs Bench Leads Way Past 'Yotes
There were some new faces in the lineup for the #1 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers Saturday night in Salt Lake City as they took on Southern Nevada, but it didn't matter as the Bucs rolled past the Coyotes 3-0, getting contributions from up and down the roster in the win.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah- There were some new faces in the lineup for the #1 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers Saturday night in Salt Lake City as they took on Southern Nevada, but it didn't matter as the Bucs rolled past the Coyotes 3-0, getting contributions from up and down the roster in the win.
It didn't take long for the Bucs to jump out in front as back to back kills from Giovanna Rocha and an ace from Bethyna Kayser put them up 10-4 to get the action started in the first. The Bucs continued to put service pressure on the Coyotes, getting aces from Sarah Webb and Brookelyn Savoya to stretch the lead to double digits at 18-8 before Magi Milicevic did the same on set point to put it in the books for the Purple and Aqua 25-14.
It was all Bucs in the second from the first serve as FSW took the first five points and then rolled off four more following a Southern Nevada sideout to give FSW a 9-1 lead to begin the set. It was 13-3 when Savoya connected with Letizia Okonofua and a block from Kiley Petras and Patrycja Labucka got the Bucs to 20 first. FSW went on to take five of the final six points of the set to win it 25-10 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
FSW carried their momentum right over into the third as they raced out to an 8-2 lead after 10 points. Southern Nevada had their best stretch of the match over the next 10 as they played the Bucs even and then scored two more to trim the FSW lead to 13-9, but the Bucs rolled off the next four in quick succession to up their lead back to eight at 17-9 later in the set. A Coyote service error pushed the Bucs to set point and FSW finished them off in the most unsuspecting way as Savoya sent a second ball over for her first career kill on her 18th birthday to seal it up for the Bucs 25-14 to finish off the 3-0 sweep.
The Bucs hit a season high .354 in the win with seven different players recording kills while holding Southern Nevada to a -.044 mark thanks to 10 total team blocks. Labucka led the way with 7 kills and 6 blocks while Okonofua also notched 7 kills with just 1 error. Petras picked up 4 kills and hit .500 while also finding her way in on a career high 5 blocks for FSW.
The Bucs improve to 6-1 on the year with the victory while Southern Nevada drops to 0-2.
FSW is back in action in a Top 20 matchup on Saturday as Bucs Head Coach Cesar Benatti takes on one of his former players from the 2010 National Champion Western Nebraska squad when FSW battles the 16th ranked Cougars at 9 AM (MT) to wrap up the tournament.