FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers shook off a slow start to earn their third straight win over a ranked opponent on Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, dropping the first set, but bouncing back for a 3-1 win over #17 Polk State to remain unbeaten on the season at 14-0. 

 

Polk came out the aggressors early on, scoring the first three points of the match and holding a 9-6 lead 15 points into the action. The Bucs found some traction from there, scoring the next three to tie the score up at 9 before pushing in front of the Eagles 15-12 midway through on a kill from Anica Bobic.  FSW couldn't maintain the momentum though as Polk scored five of the next six to take a 17-16 lead and used a flurry of tough serves from the line to keep the Bucs off track, closing out the set 25-18 to hand FSW their first set loss of the season as they took a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

The Bucs got off to a better start in the second as back to back backrow blasts from Alondra Alarcon had them up 5-2 to begin the period and later on a kill from Sara Gasparini opened their advantage to 13-8 while forcing a Polk timeout.  The Bucs continued to pad their lead as Nina Boledovicova found a hole in the defense to make it 17-10 before Gasparini finished things off with a kill to give FSW the set 25-16 to even things up at 1 going into the intermission. 

 

After two tight sets, the third was anything but that.  FSW raced out to an 8-1 lead to begin the set and never looked back.  An ace midway through from Victoria Zibecchi put the Bucs up 10 at 16-6 and they didn't stop there, scoring the final nine points of the period to take it in dominating fashion 25-6 to go ahead 2-1 in the match.  

 

The fourth was a dogfight all the way through as neither team had more than a two point lead until a Polk block gave the Eagles a 10-7 lead midway through the set. The Bucs answered with a 4-1 run to knot things up and the teams went back and forth until finding themselves deadlocked at 20 late in the period.  Three straight attacks wide from the Eagles allowed the Bucs to push in front 23-20 and back to back FSW kills finished things off as the Purple and Aqua took the final six points of the set to win it 25-20 and seal the match 3-1. 

 

 The Bucs hit .252 as a team in the win while Polk was hampered by 35 hitting errors which put them at a .013 mark in the contest. The Bucs offense was spread out with four different players finishing with eight or more kills led by Zibecchi who notched her first career double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs while also leading FSW with 4 aces at the service line. Roberta Purashaj dialed up a double-double of her own with 33 assists and 10 digs while Boledovicova finished with 8 kills and a team best 5 blocks. 

 

FSW drops their first set in 14 matches this season, but remains unbeaten in 2023 at 14-0 with the win while taking over the top spot in the Citrus Conference standings at 3-0. Polk State sees their seven match winning streak come to an end as they drop to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in league action. 

 

The Bucs won't get any reprieve in their schedule as Wednesday they take their home court once again against another ranked opponent, this time against #10 Eastern Florida State in a 6 PM first serve from Suncoast Credit Union Arena.