TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- The Suncoast Conference Champion Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were well represented on the conference's All-Conference team released on Monday as Yasso Amin was named the Player of the Year to lead five players on the squad while Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was named the league's Coach of the Year in her second season with the Bucs.
Yasso Amin was named the Suncoast Conference Player of the Year after helping lead the Bucs to an undefeated conference record at 8-0 and averaging 3.08 kills per set in league play while hitting a conference best .500 in eight FSW league matches. Amin was also the conference leader in aces with 28 and blocks with 33 in league play. In five of the eight Suncoast Conference matches, Amin had 10 or more kills at an efficiency of .450 or better.
For the second straight season, Julia De Sa was named a 1st Team All-Conference selection. De Sa led the Suncoast Conference with 95 kills in eight conference matches, hitting .368 from the outside for the Bucs. She had eight or more kills in all eight conference tilts in 2021 including six in which she went over the 10 kill mark. Her best effort came in the Bucs final Suncoast Conference match of the season when she recorded a career high 22 kills in an FSW win over Hillsborough.
Joining the Bucs top two hitters on the 1st Team All-Conference squad was the person getting them the ball, setter Fiona Baker. Baker had a huge freshman season for the Bucs, leading the Suncoast Conference in assists in conference play with 289, 90 more than any other setter in the conference. She had 24 or more assists in all eight conference matches and topped the 30 assist mark four times and the 50 assist mark twice in wins over Hillsborough and Polk State.
Along with De Sa, the Bucs other two time All-Conference award winner was Viktoriya Ivanova who earned 2nd Team honors for the second straight season. Ivanova anchored the back line for the Bucs, ranking third in the league with 100 digs in FSW's eight conference matches. She notched 10 or more digs in six of eight conference tilts for the Bucs and was a weapon at the service line, recording at least one ace in all eight contests.
Kianie Cummings was the Bucs fifth and final All-Conference recipient as she joined Ivanova on the 2nd Team. A blocking machine, Cummings tied for the Suncoast Conference lead with Amin with 1.27 blocks per set in conference play, recording four or more blocks in five of her seven matches played in league action. She also contributed on the offensive end, averaging 1.86 kills per set in league play and hitting .405 out of the middle.
The Bucs Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen also received some hardware as she was named the conference's Coach of the Year in her second year at the helm for FSW. Baziquetto-Allen guided the Bucs to a number of firsts this season including their first Suncoast Conference Championship, their first NJCAA National Ranking, and their first NJCAA Top 10 National Ranking.
The Bucs three 1st Team All-Conference recipients were the most in the league while their five overall tied for the most with Polk State. The three 1st team selections will now be considered for All-State consideration which will be announced on Wednesday.
FSW heads to the FCSAA Tournament in Jacksonville on Thursday 16-4 on the year and as the 6th ranked team in the country and the 2nd seeded team in the tournament where they will take on Suncoast Conference rival Hillsborough in the first round in a 7 PM first serve.