FORT MYERS, Fla.- A season ago, the Hillsborough Hawks had the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers' number. Hillsborough handed FSW four of their eight losses on the season and ended their year at the FCSAA State Tournament. Fast forward to 2021 and it was a different story in the two team's first matchup of the season as the 8th ranked Buccaneers hammered away at a shorthanded HCC squad, sweeping the Hawks 3-0 in Suncoast Credit Union Arena to remain unbeaten in Suncoast Conference play.
It was all FSW all night, starting right away in the first set when the Bucs jumped out to an early 7-3 lead on a big serve from Yasso Amin. They pushed the lead to 12-5 ahead of a Hillsborough timeout after an ace from Maria Petkova and a kill from Julia De Sa. With De Sa at the service line later on, FSW really started to put it on the Hawks as Petkova picked up back to back kills and then a third during a 6-0 Buccaneer run to take a 22-8 lead late in the set. On their first chance at set point, the Bucs took care of business as Kianie Cummings put away a Hillsborough overpass to seal the set for FSW 25-10. The Bucs hit .379 in the set with 15 kills while holding Hillsborough to a nil hitting percentage with just three kills in the period.
The Bucs jumped out to another early lead in the second, but this time, Hillsborough made a push to tie the score back at 10. From there though, it was again a collage of purple, aqua, and white. Another De Sa kill got the Bucs rolling and a big block from Amin and Riley Oglevie started a 5-0 spring for FSW to give them a 15-10 lead. Remaining up five moments later, the Bucs stepped on the gas to the finish line, getting a kill on a second ball from NJCAA National Player of the Week Fiona Baker followed by an ace from Viktoriya Ivanova to finish off a 25-16 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
For the third straight set, the Bucs led 5-2 after seven points following a block from Cummings and Amanda Mendes and then a kill from the Bucs lefty. Up five later on, kills from De Sa and Amin highlighted a 4-1 run for FSW to give them a 14-6 lead. The Bucs didn't let up, going on a 6-0 burst behind a huge stand at the service line from Amin which included three straight aces to blow the game open to 23-8. The night ended wih Petkova's 10th kill of the game to give the Bucs the third 25-11 and the match 3-0. The Bucs hit .400 in the period and again held Hillsborough to a .000 mark.
It was even distribution among the FSW hitters in the victory. De Sa, Amin, and Petkova all tied for the team led with 10 kills apiece while Cummings finished with six kills on 10 swings on the night. The Bucs rotated in a new hitter on the right side in each set with Oglevie finishing with four kills in her set and Mendes with three on five swings in the third. Baker dished out 31 assists and quarterbacked her offense to a .380 hitting percentage as a team in the win while also notching a career high 13 digs in her second double-double of the year. Amin blasted five aces to lead the team while Cummings had five blocks and Ivanova pulled up 19 digs, her most in a three set match this season.
FSW moves to 11-3 overall and finishes the first round of Suncoast Conference action a perfect 4-0. Hillsborough falls to 5-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play in the defeat.
After a five match in seven day run, the Bucs will take a well-deserved break until next Thursday when they return home to take on St. Petersburg to begin the second round of conference play.