Posted: Sep 20, 2023
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers wrapped up a three game Citrus Conference homestand in style on Wednesday night at Suncoast Credit Union Arena, dialing up 14 aces and putting up a wall for 9 blocks in a 3-0 sweep of #12 Eastern Florida to remain perfect at 15-0 on the season.
It was all FSW to get the game going as the Bucs scored eight of the first nine points of the match to jump on the Titans early 8-1. Eastern slowly climbed back into the contest, getting three straight kills to get back to within five at 12-7 midway through the set. A big block from Anica Bobic and Izzy Collier got FSW back on the right track and they scored seven of the next right to open things back up to 19-8 late in the set. An ace from Roberta Purashaj gave the Bucs set point and a Titan attack error closed it out as FSW took the first 25-14 to go ahead 1-0 in the match.
With the score reset at 0-0 to start the second, it was the Titans drawing first blood, taking an early 8-5 lead after two straight FSW attacks out of bounds. The Bucs deficit grew to five at 12-7 midway through the set, but a timeout slowed the Titan momentum and got FSW back on track as they scored six straight out of the stoppage, highlighted by two more aces from Purashaj to flip the script and put the Bucs in front 13-12. Moments later Purashaj hooked up with Nina Boledovicova on a slide to make it 19-15 and back to back stuffs from Collier and Alondra Alarcon finished the Titans off as FSW roared back to take the second 25-17 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
FSW dominated the third from start to finish as Bobic crushed a crosscourt shot to put them up 7-3 early before Clara Maidantchik found Alarcon on an out of system ball to make it 14-5 Bucs midway through the set. After a Titan sideout, the Bucs went on another run, this time scoring six in a row to make it 20-6 before Eastern sealed their own fate with a service error to give FSW the set 25-10 and the match 3-0.
The combination of a tough serve and a big block for FSW gave the Titans fits all night as the Bucs tied a program three set record with 14 aces in the win while finishing with 9 blocks as a team to hold Eastern Florida to just a .034 hitting percentage on the night. Offensively the Bucs were led by Bobic who tallied a match high 10 kills and Victoria Zibecchi who finished with 8 kills on 16 swings. Six different Bucs had an ace at the service line in the win, led by Alarcon and Purashaj who had 4 each. Maidantchik paced FSW with 14 digs on the back line while Collier had a match high 7 blocks at the net.
The Bucs begin the year 15-0 for the second straight season while improving to 4-0 in Citrus Conference play while Eastern Florida continues a rough patch that has seen them drop three of four to fall to 8-3 overall and 1-3 in conference action. The win is the ninth of the season for FSW over a ranked opponent and their fourth in their past four games.
FSW will now hit the road for two straight beginning on Saturday when they make their longest conference road trip of the season to Gainesville to take on Santa Fe in a 2 PM start.
