Fort Myers, Fla.- Despite a valiant effort, the #7 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers couldn't dig out of an early 2-0 hole Saturday afternoon at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in the Battle at the Beach Tournament, dropping a five set heartbreaker to #15 Salt Lake to close their weekend at the tournament. 

 

The Bucs got off to a good start, leading the first 9-6 early on and extending their lead to 15-11 on a kill from Maria Petkova.  Salt Lake trimmed a point off the lead, but it was still 18-15 Bucs when things started turning in the direction of the Bruins. An out of system kill followed by an ace drew Salt Lake with within one and two more in a row gave the Bruins their first lead of the afternoon at 19-18.  The Bucs pushed back and tied things back up at 23 and looked like they had themselves a 24-23 advantage on a slide from Julia Lawrenz, but FSW was called for a double on the set to the chagrin of the home crowd to give Salt Lake set point. The Bruins wasted no time in finishing it off, getting a kill in the middle to seal it 25-23 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.  

 

The second set followed a similar script as again the Bucs got off to a strong start behind a pair of aces from Deborah Ribero at the service line to grab a quick 7-3 lead. A side out by the Bruins followed by three straight FSW hitting errors leveled the game and it remained that way to 15-15.  A cut shot down the line from Maria Cecilia put the Bucs back in front and they picked up the next two points to retake a three point lead at 18-15.  Their advantage was shortlived as Salt Lake came back to tie things back up as the teams went deep into the set still deadlocked at 22.  Fiona Baker found Ribero in the middle for a kill to put the Bucs up one and a quick set and kill from Lawrenz gave FSW set point at 24-22.  After a Salt Lake timeout, Ribero floated a serve to the Bruins back line and thought she had won it for FSW, but another tough, late set call against the Bucs had the ball long and elation turned to frustration as Salt Lake got back to within one at 24-22. The Bucs had another chance to close one point later, but a triple block by the Bruins tied the score at 24.  After trading the next two points, the Bruins got a kill to bring it to set point and a mistimed ball handling error for the Bucs sealed it for Salt Lake as the visitors went ahead 2-0 with a 27-25 win.  

 

A frustrated FSW squad had trouble getting back on track in the third as they fell behind 6-2 out of the gates and saw their deficit grow to 18-12 later in the period. It looked like the Bucs were going home in three as Salt Lake pushed ahead 23-17 late, but back to back blocks for FSW breathed some life into the home team and forced a Bruin timeout with the score 23-20. The Bucs stayed in it on defense, scrambling all over the floor to keep the ball alive and eventually scoring three straight on a pair of kills from Riley Oglevie and another one a termination from Lawrenz to tie the score at 23. An ace from Barbara Koehler out of a timeout gave the Bucs set point  and moments later Petkova would close things out with a kill to give FSW the set 26-24 to keep them alive.  

 

FSW used their momentum from their big finish in the third to get off to a good start in the fourth, leading 9-6 on another kill from Oglevie at the 15 point mark.  They stretched their lead to seven on Koehler's 15th kill of the night and ended up running away with the set 25-16 to force a fifth and deciding set.  

 

The fifth set got off to an inauspicious start for FSW who was aced on the opening serve of the period to give the Bruins an early lead. The troubles continued as Salt Lake extended their lead to 9-4 and then 12-5 as FSW struggled to find any rhythm on the offensive side of the net. The Bucs cut it back to five at 13-8, but it was too little, too late as the Bruins closed the set as they started it with another ace to finish off the Bucs 15-8 and win the match 3-2.  

 

Errors plagued the Bucs in the loss as they finished with 46 blunders on the stat sheet including 26 hitting errors and 12 on the reception line. Libero Arianna Rossi was busy in the back row for the Bucs, tying a school record with 26 digs while Petkova turned in her career high with 20.  Koehler was a bright spot offensively, finishing with an early career best 17 kills in the defeat.  Fiona Baker led the Bucs with 26 assists while Yunju Lee came off the FSW bench to notch 21 assists and 13 digs in her first double-double in the Purple and Aqua.  Lawrenz led a 12 block attack for the Bucs at the net, recording nine stuffs including a pair of solo blocks, while also recording a career high 10 kills on the other side of the ball. 

 

At the conclusion of the tournament both Petkova and Lawrenz were named to the All-Tournament Team.  

 

The loss is the first of the season for FSW who falls to 2-1 on the year while Salt Lake finishes a 3-1 weekend in the tournament at 5-3. 

 

The schedule doesn't lighten for the Bucs any time soon as they will have a few days off before heading to Arizona for the Dalton Overstreet Invitational in Prescott where they will take on #16 Yavapai Thursday before battling #3 Snow and #4 Utah State-Eastern later in the weekend.