Posted: Nov 19, 2021
HUTCHINSON, Kan.- It was a battle on the high seas Friday at the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas as the #4 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers took on the Buccaneers of #1 Blinn. FSW dominated the first two sets, but Blinn fought back to take the third and fourth. There was only room for one Buccaneer in the fifth though and the Purple and Aqua came out of the battle on top as FSW took it 15-10 to take the match 3-2 and advance to the tournament's fifth place match where they will take on Suncoast Conference rival Miami Dade Saturday at 3:30 EST.
In a matchup of the #1 ranked team in the country for the final seven weeks of the season in FSW and the #1 seeded team for the National Tournament in Blinn, it was FSW taking control early in the first, racing out to a 10-4 lead to force a Blinn timeout. FSW continued to fire at Blinn from all angles and after back to back kills from Deborah Ribeiro it was 18-7 in favor of the Purple and Aqua. FSW never relented as a big block from Julia Lawrenz and Maria Cecilia and then another from Lawrenz and Barbara Koehler put the set on ice as FSW took it 25-12 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. FSW hit .364 in the set with 14 kills and just 2 errors while holding the nation's top hitting team in Blinn to just a .031 hitting mark.
In the second it was more of the same as once again FSW jumped out to a big early lead, this one 8-2 after an ace from Fiona Baker, and stretched it to double digits at 17-7 on a kill from Johnasia Carr. A rocket off the right arm of Koehler got FSW to 20 and a roof on the outside from Ribeiro and Riley Oglevie finished things off once again 25-12 in favor of FSW to put them up 2-0 in the match.
It looked like FSW was rolling their way to a sweep as they again jumped out to a sizeable lead to begin the third, opening up a 7-3 lead after two straight aces from Ribeiro and stretching it to 11-5 on a pair of Blinn hitting errors. But a Blinn timeout halted the momentum for FSW and Blinn scored five of the next six points to narrow the gap to just two before tying the score up at 17 on an FSW hitting error. Two straight blocks by Blinn pushed them ahead for the first time in the match and they didn't look back, closing out FSW 25-22 to push the match to a fourth set.
Blinn carried their momentum right over into the fourth, using some of FSW's own medicine against them, going up 10-5 after 15 points of action. FSW's deficit grew to as many as eight before they finally dug their heels in and started to fight back into the set. A big kill from Koehler started FSW on an 8-2 run to draw them even at 19 when a big call went against the Purple and Aqua on the back line to put Blinn back in front by one at 20-19. Two straight ball handling errors put FSW down three and they never recovered as Blinn finished them off 25-22 to even the match and send it to a deciding fifth set.
It was nip and tuck in the fifth with the score tied at 5 after 10 points. An attack wide by Blinn followed by a perfectly placed ace from Maiana Coelho gave FSW a two point lead and they parlayed that into a four point advantage at 10-6 moments later after an ace from Koehler. Blinn cut the FSW lead back to two at 11-9, but a kill from Maria Petkova and a huge triple block in the middle from Ribeiro, Koehler, and Maria Cecilia made it four once again at 13-9. With four cracks at set point moments later, FSW went to their captain and Petkova delivered, ripping a sharp cross inside the line to win it 15-10 and give FSW the match 3-2.
FSW finished with 65 kills in the win led by Koehler with 18 and Petkova with 16, who also paced the Purple and Aqua with 19 digs. Julia Lawrenz had a team high 6 blocks to go along with 9 kills while Ribeiro filled the stat sheet with 8 errorless kills, a career high 5 aces, 6 digs, and 5 blocks for FSW. Yunju Lee led FSW with 30 assists and paired that with 13 digs for a double-double.
FSW improves to 24-5 on the year with the win while Blinn falls to 39-3.
The win sets up a showdown for the Bucs on the final day of the season Saturday as they will square off with Suncoast Conference rival and #3 Miami Dade in the 5th place match at 3:30 EST.
