CHARLOTTE, N.C.- After leading the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers to a Suncoast Conference Championship and 5th place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament last month, outside hitter Maria Petkova and middle blocker Deborah Ribeiro have been named First Team NJCAA All-Americans as announced by the National Office on Wednesday.
Petkova wraps up her spectacular FSW career with the sport's ultimate honor after leading the Bucs to their best season in program history in 2021. She led FSW with 3.20 kills per set on the season and ranked second on the team with 2.90 digs per set. She was one of just 14 players nationally this season to combine to average those numbers. She had 16 matches of 10 or more kills this season including setting and then breaking her own single game kills record with 22 in the Bucs opener and then 26 in their win over Indian River in the FCSAA State Tournament. She had eight double-doubles on the year including a pair in the NJCAA National Tournament. She finished her FSW career a perfect 24-0 in Suncoast Conference matches while racking up 522 kills and 471 digs, both of which rank second in program history. Next season she will take her talents to the University of San Francisco to play in the WCC, the fifth ranked conference at the NCAA Division I level.
Ribeiro stepped foot on campus in August and immediately established herself as one of the top middles in the country as a freshman. She ranked second in the state of Florida and sixth nationally this season averaging 1.36 blocks per set while dialing up 43 aces which also ranked second in the state. She chipped in 1.49 kills per set on the season as well while hitting .311 out of the middle for the Bucs. She had at least one block in all 30 matches this season and had multiple blocks in 28 of 30 contests. Her top blocking effort of the year came against #2 Miami Dade when she rejected 10 Shark attacks in a five set win for the Bucs. Arguably her two best offensive performances of the year came on the big stage as she wrapped up her rookie season with 15 kills and 0 errors on 30 swings in FSW wins over #1 Blinn and #3 Miami Dade at the NJCAA National Tournament.
FSW was one of just two teams to have two First Team All-Americans (New Mexico Military). It is the second straight season that the Bucs have had a pair of All-Americans after Yasso Amin (First Team) and Fiona Baker (Second Team) earned the honors in 2020.
The FCSAA was well represented on the teams as along with Petkova and Ribeiro, Miami Dade's Romina Cornelio earned First Team honors while Daytona State's Alina Carillo (Second Team) and Svea Frobel (Honorable Mention) were also tabbed All-Americans.