LEXINGTON, Ky.- Florida SouthWestern stars Maria Petkova and Deborah Ribeiro were honored once again on Thursday as the dynamic duo backed up their NJCAA All-American selections from last week, with AVCA All-American accolades announced today by the AVCA.
The AVCA All-American teams are unique at the two year level as they encompass all divisions and organizations in their selections. This includes NJCAA Divisions, I, II, and III, as well as the CCCAA, and NWAC.
Petkova was honored with the esteemed 1st Team AVCA All-American billing by the ACVA on Thursday after leading the Bucs to a 25-5 campaign and a 5th place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament this fall. The Bucs star led FSW with 3.20 kills per set on the season and ranked second on the team with 2.90 digs per set. She was one of just 14 players nationally this season to combine to average those numbers. She had 16 matches of 10 or more kills this season including setting and then breaking her own single game kills record with 22 in the Bucs opener and then 26 in their win over Indian River in the FCSAA State Tournament. She had eight double-doubles on the year including a pair in the NJCAA National Tournament. She finished her FSW career a perfect 24-0 in Suncoast Conference matches while racking up 522 kills and 471 digs, both of which rank second in program history. Next season she will take her talents to the University of San Francisco to play in the WCC, the fifth ranked conference at the NCAA Division I level.
Ribeiro was named a 2nd Team AVCA All-American for her efforts for the Bucs during her rookie campaign. She ranked second in the state of Florida and sixth nationally this season averaging 1.36 blocks per set while dialing up 43 aces which also ranked second in the state. She chipped in 1.49 kills per set on the season as well while hitting .311 out of the middle for the Bucs. She had at least one block in all 30 matches this season and had multiple blocks in 28 of 30 contests. Her top blocking effort of the year came against #2 Miami Dade when she rejected 10 Shark attacks in a five set win for the Bucs. Arguably her two best offensive performances of the year came on the big stage as she wrapped up her first season for the Bucs with 15 kills and 0 errors on 30 swings in FSW wins over #1 Blinn and #3 Miami Dade at the NJCAA National Tournament.
Petkova and Ribeiro were two of the three players from the FCSAA to be honored by the AVCA as they were joined by Miami Dade's Romina Cornelio. FSW and New Mexico Military were the only two NJCAA Division I teams to have multiple players receive AVCA All-American accolades.
It marks the second straight season that the Bucs had a pair of players named AVCA All-Americans after Yasso Amin (First Team) and Fiona Baker (Honorable Mention) earned the honors last season.