PRESCOTT, Ariz.- Five short months ago, the Snow Badgers ended the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hopes of an NJCAA National Championship, sweeping FSW in the quarterfinals of the National Tournament. Saturday morning the Bucs exacted some revenge, taking it to the 2nd ranked Badgers 3-1 to wrap up their stay at the Dalton Overstreet Invitational in Arizona. 

 

Snow controlled most of the first set until a late 3-0 run for the Bucs evened the score at 19. The two teams went back and forth from there, finding themselves deadlocked at 24 ten points later. Snow put a ball to the floor to give themselves set point and the Bucs couldn't fight it off as the Badgers finished it off 26-24 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

The Bucs got off to an inauspicious start in the second as Snow picked up back to back aces to begin the set to take the early lead. FSW recovered though, coming back to tie the score at 10 before a kill down the line from Riley Oglevie put the Purple and Aqua in front 11-10. FSW continued to lead by one later on when a 3-0 burst opened their lead to four at 20-16. That was the boost they needed as they rode the momentum through the end of the set, closing out the Badgers 25-18 to even the match at 1.  

 

The third set followed just about the same script as Snow opened the set with a lead before FSW came back to take a midset lead at 10-7. With Meg Balogh at the service line the Bucs stepped on the gas, scoring three straight to take a commanding 18-10 advantage.  Snow never threatened again as the Bucs put them away 25-15 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. 

 

The Bucs got off to a better start in the fourth and held a 12-9 lead at the midway point after back to back kills from Oglevie. Snow closed the gap, but the Bucs remained in front at 19-16 later in the set. A 3-0 run from the Badgers evened the score, but the Bucs finished the set with a flurry, getting kills from three different players in the final four points to finish off Snow 25-21 to take the match 3-1. 

 

The Bucs hit .196 as a team in the win with four different players finishing with nine or more kills. Maria Petkova led the way with 15 kills and 19 digs for her second double-double of the weekend while Barbara Koehler and Maria Cecilia both finished with double digit kills and Oglevie put down 9 and hit .333 in the match. Fiona Baker led the Bucs with 29 assists while Arianna Rossi notched her second 25 dig match of the weekend on the back line. The Bucs finished with 10 blocks as a team with Deborah Ribero and Petkova each getting in on five.  

 

The win over the 2nd ranked Badgers is the highest ranked opponents the Bucs have defeated during their young program history.  FSW improves to 5-2 on the year with the victory while the defending National Runners-Up fall to 9-2.  

 

The Bucs will only have a short time to enjoy the win before taking the court again on Tuesday at home against #3 Miami Dade in their 2021 Suncoast Conference opener.