BRADENTON, Fla.- Things weren't always pretty for the #4 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers Saturday in their 3 PM matinee contest with the State College of Florida Manatees, but at the end of the day, they took care of business, downing SCF 3-1 to improve to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in Suncoast Conference play on the season.  

 

Like they did Thursday on the road at Indian River, the Bucs started slow again against the Manatees, trailing 14-10 midway through the first set after a reception error an SCF kill forced an FSW timeout.  They regrouped and went on a 5-0 run highlighted by back to back kills from Maria Cecilia to retake the lead, but it wouldn't last long as the Manatees evened things back up at 15 moments later.  It was back and forth from there until a late burst pushed the Bucs ahead before Yunju Lee connected with Maria Petkova on the outside for a winner as FSW snuck past SCF 25-22 in the first to go ahead 1-0 in the match. 

 

The second set was dejavu early on as SCF got out to a 5-1 lead before the Bucs woke up and took a 14-11 lead midway through the set.  The Bucs and Manatees two stepped to 18-18 before SCF closed the period on a 7-2 run to take the set 25-20 and even the match at one set a piece. 

 

FSW came out angry in the third, opening up an early 6-2 lead on the Manatees. They pushed their lead to seven midway through the set at 15-8 on a big block from Deborah Ribero and Maria Petkova before hanging on by the skin of their teeth late 25-22 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. 

 

Three straight SCF errors early in the fourth broke a 7-7 tie and put the Bucs ahead and they stretched their lead to 14-8 on two more mistakes by the Manatees midway through the period. This time the Bucs didn't let off the gas as Katie Dickey floated in an ace and Riley Oglevie tooled the block to open up a 19-12 lead for the Purple and Aqua. Ultimately the Bucs put the Manatees away on another rocket from Cecilia, giving them the set 25-14 and the match 3-1. 

 

With two starters out due to injury, Cecilia led the Bucs with 14 kills on the right side while Oglevie and Petkova each had 9.  Fiona Baker paced the Bucs with 27 assists with Arianna Rossi's 12 digs leading the back row and Ribero's 5 stuffs at the net leading FSW.  

 

The Bucs improve to 8-2 on the early season while their Suncoast Conference mark remains unblemished at 3-0.  SCF falls to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in league play with the defeat. 

 

FSW is back in action on Tuesday when they host another Top 20 battle in Suncoast Credit Union Arena with #18 Daytona coming in for a 6:00 PM matchup.