Posted: Apr 11, 2023
FORT MYERS, Fla.- After winning a National Championship with the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers as a sophomore in 2022, Maria Cecilia has signed with NCAA Division II power Lynn University to continue her academic and athletic career.
Cecilia was a mainstay in the FSW lineup the past two seasons, starting all 58 matches on the right side for the Purple and Aqua. She finished her Buccaneer career in the top five all time with 493 career kills and 141 career blocks. As a sophomore in 2022, Cecilia was a 2nd Team All-Suncoast Conference selection, averaging 2.85 kills and 0.79 blocks per set for FSW. She had 10 matches with 10 or more kills last season including 15 in FSW's Region VIII Championship win over Miami Dade and then 10 more against the Sharks in the Bucs NJCAA National Championship victory.
In two seasons in Fort Myers, Cecilia helped lead FSW to a 52-6 overall record and a 29-1 mark in Suncoast Conference play, winning two Conference Championships, the program's first Region VIII Championship, a 5th place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament as a freshman, and an NJCAA National Championship to cap things off in 2022.
Cecilia will swap coasts to Boca Raton where she will suit up for a Lynn program that was 24-6 last season and 15-4 in an always competitive Sunshine State Conference. The Fighting Knights qualified for the NCAA Division II South Regionals where they collected a win over Florida Southern before falling to Barry in the second round.
Cecilia is the sixth FSW sophomore to sign at the next level, joining Julia Lawrenz (Hawaii), Barbara Koehler (Wichita State), Arianna Rossi (Southern Utah), Maiana Coelho (Missouri Baptist), and Christina Pratcher (Fayeteville State).