Posted: Oct 26, 2022
MIAMI, Fla.- In a matchup made for a Hollywood movie, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and the #6 Miami Dade Sharks went blow for blow Tuesday night in Miami with a raucous crowd on both sides cheering on the top two teams in the Suncoast Conference. After the Sharks landed the first shot, FSW bounced back and took the second but went down once again as Miami Dade squeaked out the third. The Bucs kept fighting, dominating the fourth set to force a fifth and deciding stanza where FSW outlasted the Sharks 15-10 to take the match 3-2 and in the process clinch their third straight Suncoast Conference Championship and the #1 seed for the upcoming FCSAA State Tournament.
Playing for the second time in just four days, the Bucs and Sharks played even through the first 10 points before a rash of FSW errors allowed Miami Dade to jump in front 10-5 in the first. The Bucs cut the gap to four at 16-12, but it was all Miami Dade from there as the Sharks outscored the Bucs 9-3 to close out the set and take it 25-15 to go ahead 1-0 in the match. The Bucs couldn't slow down the multifaceted Shark attack as Miami Dade hit .452 in the period while FSW hit just .094.
The Bucs woke up in the second as a pair of early kills from Alondra Alarcon and another from Barbara Koehler had them out to an 8-4 early advantage. FSW continued to keep their distance from the Sharks through the middle of the set as they led it 17-12 later on before Roberta Purashaj hooked up with Julia Lawrenz in the middle for the winner as the Bucs took the set 25-21 to even the match at one set apiece. After a slow start offensively in the first, the Bucs were much better in the second, banging home 18 kills and hitting .395 while siding out at a rate of 63%.
The third was nip and tuck from start to finish as the Bucs and Sharks traded the first 10 points and continued to find themselves deadlocked 10 points later at 10-10 after a solo block by Izzy Collier in the middle. Still tied at 17 later on, a pair of kills from Koehler put FSW up two, but a Miami Dade timeout settled the Sharks down and they went on to score four straight out of the break to retake a 21-19 lead. A service error gave the Bucs the ball back and the next play provided the blooper highlight of the night as it looked like Alarcon was going to get blocked to put Miami Dade up two, but instead the Bucs freshman instinctively kicked the falling ball back over the net and caught the already celebrating Sharks by surprise as the ball fell to the ground for a kill to even the score at 21. A sideout by the Sharks and two straight FSW hitting errors gave Miami Dade set point and the Sharks closed out the Bucs on a big swing to take the set 25-22 to go ahead 2-1 in the match.
With their backs to the wall, the Bucs came out swinging in the fourth, scoring the first four points of the period before quickly ballooning the lead to 11-4 ahead of a Sharks timeout. A kill from Maria Cecilia on the right side had FSW doubling up Dade 16-8 and they continued that trend to 20-10 later in the set. An ace from Arianna Rossi gave the Bucs set point and the set ended on just about the most unusual way you could have scripted it as Miami Dade was called for their second delay of game of the set on a substitution mishap, turning the infraction into a red card to give FSW the set 25-13 to even the match and send it to a deciding fifth set.
As expected, the fifth was hard fought early on with neither team taking more than a one point advantage until an ace from Cecilia put the Bucs up 6-4 and forced a Miami Dade timeout. Three straight kills from Alarcon after that stretched the Bucs lead to 9-4 and moments later with Alarcon at the service line, Purashaj hooked up with Lawrenz on back to back plays in the middle to cushion the FSW lead to 12-6. Smelling blood in the water, it was the Bucs, not the Sharks, who continued the attack, giving themselves six cracks at match point after a kill from Koehler made it 14-8 and three points later Purashaj went back to her captain for her 16th kill of the night to send the Bucs bench into an eruption as they took the set 15-10 and won the match 3-2.
The Bucs finished with 65 kills in the match, their second most in a match in program history, while hitting .253 on the night. Four Bucs racked up double-doubles in the five setter as Alarcon had her second straight big game against the Sharks with 18 kills and 12 digs, Koehler finished with 16 kills and a career high 18 digs, Cecilia had 13 kills and also notched a career high with 17 digs, and Purashaj dished out a match high 48 assists and also pulled up 10 digs. Lawrenz had the best offensive game of her FSW career with 12 kills while also getting in on 5 blocks for the third straight match.
With the win, the Bucs improve to 20-1 overall, but more importantly 12-1 in Suncoast Conference play where they have clinched their third consecutive Conference Championship ahead of their final game of the regular season Thursday. FSW is now 11-0 against NJCAA Top 15 ranked teams this season. Miami Dade drops their third straight contest as they fall to 18-7 overall and 10-3 in Suncoast Conference action.
The Bucs will wrap up the regular season on Thursday when they host Polk State at FGCU's Alico Arena on Sophomore Night at 6:00 PM, honoring seven FSW sophomores playing their final home games in Fort Myers for the Bucs in a pregame ceremony.