PRESCOTT, Ariz.- The #6 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers came out on fire and took care of business Thursday night in front of a rowdy road crowd at the Dalton Overstreet Invitational, downing #16 Yavapai 3-1 to improve to 3-1 on the early season. 

 

The Bucs came out ready to go, jumping out to an 11-7 lead in the first before a Yavapai timeout attempted to stop their momentum. It didn't, as FSW scored three of the next four to extend their lead to six and then never looked back, finishing off the first 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

The second was never close.  FSW came out guns a blazing, getting contributions from all over the floor to take an 11-4 lead to begin the set. Back to back monster blocks from Deborah Ribero and Maria Cecilia stretched the Bucs lead to 10 and they cruised to a 25-11 victory to go ahead 2-0 in the match. 

 

The third was a different story as the Bucs looked like a completely different team early on.  This time it was the Roughriders getting out to a big early lead and holding a 19-12 lead deep into the set. That's when the Bucs decided to flip the switch, scoring eight straight to not only erase the Yavapai lead, but to take a 20-19 lead of their own.  The teams danced back and forth to 22-22 when two straight from the Roughriders gave them two cracks at set point.  Back to back kills from Maria Petkova knotted the score back up and a bullet from Barbara Koehler on an overpass gave FSW match point.  Yavapai wasn't ready to go home just yet though, fighting off match point to tie things back up at 27. The Bucs had a chance to close it out, but it was the Roughriders riding the emotions of a loud and proud crowd that picked up the last two points to seal the deal 29-27 and push the match to a fourth set.  

 

FSW and Yavapai traded the first 12 points in the fourth before a 3-1 run for the Bucs pushed them out in front 10-7.  They continued to build on their lead, pushing it to 14-8 midway through the set before a Yavapai timeout. Yunju Lee connected with Cecilia to keep it a six point FSW advantage late in the set at 21-15 and the Bucs finished things off in style with a rocket from Petkova to take the set 25-18 and the match 3-1.  

 

The Bucs finished with a season high 63 kills in the win, hitting .230 on the night. Petkova led the Bucs with 18 kills and 15 digs for her second straight double-double while Fiona Baker notched one of her own with a match high 33 assists to go along with 14 digs.  Cecilia and Koehler each finished with a dozen kills while Arianna Rossi led the Bucs back line with her second 25 dig game of the early season.  The Bucs finished with 11 blocks as a team led by seven from Ribero and five from Cecilia. 

 

The Bucs improve to 3-1 on the year with all four matches coming against top 20 ranked teams while Yavapai drops to 3-4 after their second loss of the day at their home tournament. 

 

FSW will be back in action on Friday at 4:00 PM Eastern Time when they square off with #4 Utah State Eastern in a rematch of last season's 7th place game at the NJCAA National Tournament. They wrap up the day with an 8:00 PM Eastern matchup against the Gila Monsters of Eastern Arizona.  Both games can be watched live by going to the Bucs Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FSWBucs.