GAINESVILLE, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers made short work of Santa Fe Saturday in Gainesville, needing just 1:07 to dispatch of the Saints and improve to 16-0 on the year, setting a new program record to start a season after going 15-0 to begin their 2022 National Championship campaign. 

 

It was all FSW in the first as the Bucs bolted out to a 13-2 lead midway through the set after back to back Roberta Purashaj to Nina Boledovicova hook ups on the slide. The Bucs didn't relent, pushing the lead to 21-5 before Alondra Alarcon went off the block to finish it off 25-7 to give FSW a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

The Bucs made things tough on themselves early in the second as five service errors through the first half of the set allowed Santa Fe to stick around and keep the game tied at 11. FSW got things rolling from there as Izzy Collier smashed back to back kills to the floor to cushion their lead to 18-12 before Victoria Zibecchi went cross court to seal it 25-15 to put the Bucs up 2-0 in the match. 

 

The Bucs got some new faces involved in the third and it took them a while to get it going as for the second straight set they found themselves in a dog fight midway through, deadlocked in an 11-11 tie. Anica Bobic drilled an attack off the three meter line to put the Bucs back in front and they went on a 7-1 push to quickly take an 18-12 lead.  A pair of Santa Fe errors gave FSW a handfull of cracks at match point, but they needed just one, finishing off the Saints 25-15 to sweep the match 3-0. 

 

FSW moves to 16-0 on the year, marking their best start in program history.  The win pushes them to 5-0 in Citrus Conference play, keeping them atop the conference standings alongside Miami Dade. 

 

The Bucs win, and a Miami Dade win over Hillsborough sets up a Wednesday showdown in Miami between the #1 and #2 teams in the country in a 2022 NJCAA National Championship game rematch.  The Bucs and Sharks will begin their battle at 6 PM in South Beach.