JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- It was a battle of two teams in very different spots in their program histories Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville as the #6 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers took on the #1 Miami Dade Sharks for the FCSAA State Championship. The Bucs, in just their second season as a program, matched up against the 39-time State Champion Sharks. The Bucs fought valiantly, but couldn't overcome the undefeated Sharks attack, falling in three sets to finish as the 2020-2021 FCSAA Runners-Up.  The second place finish earned the Bucs a trip to the next round of the postseason where they will take on Spartanburg Methodist next Friday in Jacksonville in the Southeast District Finals with a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament on the line. 

 

The Bucs opened the day by taking on Suncoast Conference rival Polk State for the second time in three days and the fourth time this season. It was a fight early on in the first as the two teams were tied at 8 before a 4-1 run for the Bucs, highlighted by a big block from Yasso Amin and Fiona Baker gave FSW a 12-9 lead midway through. The Bucs stretched their lead out to five, but Polk roared back, tying the score at 18 to force an FSW timeout. A kill from Maria Petkova out of the timeout got the Bucs headed back in the right direction and they would close out the first 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.  

 

The second followed the same script as the Bucs led it 11-7 midway through before Polk fought back to tie the score at 12 on a 5-1 run.  They danced to a 19-19 tie when Julia De Sa smashed one crosscourt to put the Bucs back in front and they scored the next two to take a 22-19 lead.  Again the Eagles had no quit, evening the score at 22 with three straight points.  Tied at 24 four points later, a kill from Amin gave the Bucs set point and De Sa finished it with a shot deep into the corner to give FSW the set 26-24 and a 2-0 lead in the match.  

 

The Bucs looked like they were going to cruise past the Eagles in the third as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead and extended it to 14-6 later in the period. Again, the Eagles came screaming back, going on a 13-6 run to trim the Bucs lead to just one at 20-19.  A kill from Kianie Cummings out of an FSW timeout settled the Bucs back down and moments later back to back kills from Petkova gave the Bucs three cracks at match point.  Polk fought off the Bucs first two attempts to close, but De Sa wiped a ball off the Eagle block on their third try to seal the set 25-23 to give the Bucs the 3-0 sweep. 

 

De Sa led the Bucs with 12 kills in the win, hitting .393 while Kellen Valentim and Amin each had nine.  Baker dished out 35 assists for FSW while Amin had a team high four blocks for the Purple and Aqua. 

 

 

The win over Polk sent the Bucs to uncharted territory as waiting for them in the FCSAA State Championship game was #1 Miami Dade, a team FSW had gone toe to toe with in a five set thriller just 24 hours prior.  

 

It was a good match early between the Bucs and the Sharks as they split the first 22 points of the first set to an 11-11 tie.  Four straight attack errors from the Bucs from there, including a pair of big Miami Dade blocks, pushed the Sharks in front 15-11 and they never looked back, running away with the first 25-15 to go up 1-0 in the match. 

 

Miami Dade got out to a big early lead in the second at 9-3 before the Bucs dug in and gave them a fight.  Back to back Dade attack errors midway through the set got the Bucs back to within one at 13-12 and a Baker to Petkova hook up knotted the score at 14. A huge block by Amin and Riley Oglevie gave the Bucs their first lead of the period, but it was short lived as Miami Dade answered with a 3-0 run of their own and held FSW off late for a 25-22 win to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.  

 

Much like the first, the Bucs and Sharks went toe to toe early in the third and were tied at 11 midway through the set.  Also like the first, a 4-0 run from the Sharks, sped along by a pair of FSW attacks wide, gave Miami Dade a 15-11 advantage.  The Bucs kept it to a four point game later in the set, but could get no closer at the end as the Sharks scored three of the final four points of the period to take it 25-18 and claim their fifth straight, and 40th overall, FCSAA State Championship. 

 

Stymied by a big Miami Dade block, the Bucs were held to their worst offensive performance of the season in the los.  FSW hit a season low .050 as a team while recording a season low 28 kills in the match.  De Sa was the lone offensive bright spot, finishing with 11 kills and also adding 10 digs for a double-double. Amanda Mendes had five kills in her one set of work. Petkova, Amin, and Cummings had four blocks each for the Bucs who finished with eight as a team in the match.  

 

 

At the conclusion of the tournament, Julia De Sa, Maria Petkova, and Kianie Cummings were all named to the All-Tournament Team. 

 

FSW moves to 19-6 on the season with the 1-1 day.  They have now defeated eight ranked opponents and seven Top 10 ranked opponents this season.  

 

With their runner-up finish, the Bucs qualify as the #2 seed from Region VIII for the NJCAA Southeast District Championship next Friday in Jacksonville.  The Bucs will return to Jacksonville on Friday where they will take on Region X Champions Spartanburg Methodist at 11:00 AM at FSCJ.  In the other matchup, it will be #8 Polk State vs. #1 Miami Dade with the winners of the two matches playing each other at 5:00 PM.