FORT MYERS, Fla.- A season ago, then Florida SouthWestern State freshman Maria Petkova bided her time, playing second fiddle behind a host of Division I hitters including All-American Yasso Amin and 1st Team All-Conference outside Julia De Sa.  Friday, in the Bucs 2021 season openers at the Battle of the Beach Tournament at Suncoast Arena, it was Petkova's turn to shine and she took full advantage of that.  The Bucs captain went off in FSW's first game of the day, tying a program record with 22 kills in a 3-1 come from behind victory over #20 Monroe and capped off the day with 13 kills on just 18 swings in a dominating 3-0 sweep of #10 Missouri State-West Plains. 

The Bucs came out a little nervous in their opener against #20 Monroe, but a kill midway through the first had FSW in front of the Mustangs 15-13. They stretched their lead to 20-17 later in the set on a Mustang service error, but a 4-1 run from Monroe leveled the score at 21 moments later.  The two split the next four points to 23-23 before Fiona Baker connected with Julia Lawrenz to give the Bucs their first set point opportunity.  Monroe fought off the Bucs first effort and they continued to trade points to 26-26 before back to back kills from the Mustangs finished off the set 28-26 to give them a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

FSW Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen made some adjustments to the Bucs rotation in the second set and the move turned out to be golden.  Back to back aces from Arianna Rossi midway through the set put FSW up 12-6 and they continued to build on the lead with a pair of kills from Petkova to put them up 10 at 16-6.  A huge block from Fiona Baker and Deborah Ribero extended the FSW advantage all the way to 12 before Monroe roared back to get to within four late, but Petkova's eighth kill of the set finally put a stamp on a 25-20 win for the Bucs to even the match at 1-1. 

 

Behind three early kills from Maria Cecilia, FSW raced out to a 6-1 lead in the third to force an early Mustang timeout.  They pushed their advantage to eight midway through the set on a kill by Riley Oglevie and back to back blocks from Ribero later on gave FSW set point at 24-8. They didn't waste any time finishing it off as Cecilia went down the line for the set to give the Bucs a 25-8 win to grab a 2-1 lead in the match. 

 

Rolling like a freight train going downhill, Monroe had no answers for the high powered FSW attack again in the fourth.  A kill from Barbara Koehler gave FSW a 7-3 lead early on and an ace from Petkova made it 14-9 midway through the period. Yunju Lee found Lawrenz in the middle to make it 19-12 and Petkova's 22nd kill of the night stretched the lead to 22-12 moments later. After a mini run for the Mustangs, the Bucs stepped on the gas one last time, scoring the final three points of the set and ultimately the match to take the fourth 25-16 and the match 3-1. 

 

After a slow start offensively, the Bucs finished the match hitting .328 as a team led by Petkova who banged 22 kills to the floor to tie a program record while hitting .465 in the contest.  In her first match as a Buc Cecilia finished with 11 kills on 25 swings and Oglevie chipped in eight on the right side for FSW.  Baker notched a double-double with 31 assists and 13 digs in her All-American encore while Ribero paced FSW with six blocks and Lawrenz added four.  

 

 

With the defending NJCAA National Champs Iowa Western out of the tournament due to Covid-19 protocols, the most anticipated matchup of the tournament turned the FSW's 3:00 PM match against #10 Missouri State-West Plains.  

 

FSW was sharp early in the first, jumping out to a 10-4 lead, but they hit a rut and allowed the Grizzlies to climb back in and tie the set at 13 midway through. A big block from Cecilia and Ribero pushed FSW back in front  and a kill from Cecilia on the right side stretched their lead to three later on at 22-19. A hitting error for the Grizzlies gave the Bucs set point and Maiana Coelho connected with Lawrenz in the middle for a kill to finish things off 25-21 to give FSW a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

As they did in the first, the Bucs got out to another 10-4 lead in the second, thanks in part to a pair of aces from middle Deborah Ribero at the service line. This time however, instead of letting West Plains back in the set, the Bucs put them away early. A kill from Koehler made it 14-5 and an ace from Baker pushed the lead to 10 moments later at 18-8. The Grizzlies never recovered as the Bucs threw things into autopilot and cruised to the finish line 25-15 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. 

 

A pair of triple blocks for the Bucs early in the third pushed them out to a 11-5 lead to get things going. Petkova's 12th kill of the match extended the FSW lead to nine before three straight huge blocks for the Bucs front line blew it open to a 21-9 contest.  The Bucs put the Grizzlies out of their misery a short time later as Ribero finished off an overpass to give FSW the set 25-10 and the match 3-0 in decisive fashion. 

 

The Bucs were solid on both sides of the net in the win, hitting .500 in the second and .524 in the third to finish the match at .395 overall. Defensively they chalked up 14 blocks with all six front row players notching three or more stuffs.  Petkova again led FSW with 13 kills on just 18 swings, good for a cool .667 hitting percentage while Oglevie hit .600 with seven kills on 10 swings and Koehler added eight terminations. Baker had 19 assists in the win while Lee added 10 helpers off the bench. Ribero led FSW with both seven blocks and three aces while Lawrenz had six blocks for the Bucs.  

 

 

The Bucs finish day one of the Battle at the Beach Tournament a perfect 2-0 and will look to close out a perfect weekend Saturday when they host #15 Salt Lake, who dropped a five set heartbreaker to #2 Miami Dade in the final game of the tournament Friday. 

 

For more information about the Battle of the Beach Tournament or for stats and scores from other games not featuring the Bucs, CLICK HERE.