FORT MYERS, Fla.- A league high six Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were named to the All-Suncoast Conference Team and Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was tabbed the Coach of the Year on Thursday night at the FCSAA State Tournament banquet in Fort Myers.
Leading four 1st Team All-Conference selections for FSW was outside hitter Maria Petkova who led the Bucs with 3.29 kills per set on the season and was second on the team with 2.96 digs per set on the year. She had 13 matches of 10 or more kills during the regular season and chalked up six double-doubles along the way.
Joining Petkova was freshman Deborah Ribeiro who was the lone middle hitter on the 1st Team. Ribeiro led the state in total blocks during the regular season and by a wide margin. Her 115 stuffs were 40 more than the next closest player while she also chipped in 1.53 kills per set on the offensive side of the net while hitting .325.
Libero Arianna Rossi was also a 1st Team All-Conference pick by the coaches after finishing second in the state in digs in the regular season. A constant in the back row for the Bucs, Rossi dialed up 19 matches with 10 or more digs and topped the 20 dig mark on four occasions.
The Bucs fourth 1st Teamer was freshman Barbara Koehler. Koehler starred on the outside in her rookie campaign for FSW, finishing in the top eight in the conference in kills while also coming up big on the defensive end with 2.25 digs and 0.60 blocks per set.
Fiona Baker was the Bucs lone repeat All-Conference performer as she was named a 2nd Team selection. The Bucs all-time assists leader transitioned to a 6-2 this season and still managed to average 6.64 assists per set on the season which ranked seventh in the state while also pulling up 2.34 digs per set which was third among setters.
Accompanying Baker on the 2nd Team was pin hitter Elissa Alcantara. After transferring to FSW from Colorado before the season, Alcantara made an immediate impact for the Bucs, finishing with 2.10 kills per set and hitting .289 which ranked third in the state among pin hitters in 2021.
Baziquetto-Allen earned Suncoast Conference Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season after guiding the Bucs to a perfect 16-0 record in conference play and leading them to their first #1 national ranking in program history which they held for the final seven weeks of the regular season.
FSW opens up the postseason at home on Friday in Suncoast Credit Union Arena where they will take on the winner of the Hillsborough/Polk State first round matchup at 4:00 PM in the first FCSAA State Tournament semifinal.