Posted: Oct 12, 2023
WINTER HAVEN, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were quite literally pushed to the brink Wednesday night on the road at #14 Polk State, scoring the final four points in a deciding fifth set to win it 15-13 and remain unbeaten at a perfect 21-0 on the season. The Bucs veterans came up big in the win as Alondra Alarcon finished with 24 kills and 22 digs while Roberta Purashaj dished out 57 assists and Izzy Collier pounded down 10 kills without an error in the victory.
As expected, Polk State came out fired up in front of a energetic and boisterous home crowd at the Winter Haven Health Center. After the Bucs and Eagles played even through the first 16 points, a mid set run for Polk put the Eagles in control and up 17-11. FSW got back to within five later in the set, but they would never get closer than that as Polk finished off the set 25-18 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Following an eerily similar script to the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season in Fort Myers, after Polk took the first set, FSW came out with their hair on fire in the second, jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead before stretching their lead to 10 midway through the set at 13-3 on an ace from Giulia Bonifacio. It remained a 10 point game later in the set at 20-10 after a kill from Alondra Alarcon before Bonifacio put it in the books with a cross court rip to give FSW the second 25-13 to level the match at one set apiece. The Bucs finished with 14 kills in the set and hit .367 while holding Polk to just 5 kills and a -.036 hitting mark.
The ever important third was a dogfight early on as neither team led by more than a single point through the first 15 points until two straight errors for the Bucs allowed the Eagles to go in front 9-7. FSW came back to tie the score up at 12 before a huge block from Bonifacio and Izzy Collier gave the Bucs the lead back by one at the midway point of the period. The back and forth continued as Polk recaptured the lead just to see a 4-0 FSW run capped by a pair of kills from Sara Gasparini put the Purple and Aqua back up by two at 19-17. Alaron's 15th kill of the night followed by an ace from Nina Boledovicova put the Bucs on the doorstep of the set win before a second ball kill from Roberta Purashaj put it in the books as FSW won the set 25-22 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. The third set finished with 13 tie scores and seven different lead changes.
Any momentum the Bucs may have had after taking the 2-1 lead was squelched between sets as FSW got off to a disastrous start to the fourth with Polk State scoring seven of the first eight to take a 7-1 lead to get things going in the period. Slowly the Bucs worked their way back in as Purashaj found Boledovicova on a slide to make it a three point game before a monster solo block from Bonifacio leveled the score at 17. The teams traded the next six points to make it a race to five with the score deadlocked at 20-20. A kill for the Eagles put them ahead by one before back to back Gasparini kills gave FSW a one point edge. With their backs to the wall, Polk wasn't done yet as they kept swinging, regaining the lead before taking the set 25-23 to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
With the match on the line, neither team would give an inch in the fifth as 10 points decided nothing as the set was tied at 5-5. Back to back attack errors for the Bucs allowed the Eagles to take the first two point lead of the set and a third consecutive FSW error put Polk up 8-5 at the crossover. Two straight kills for the Bucs got them back to within one and moments later a kill from Alarcon drew FSW back even at 10-10. Purashaj found Alarcon again to put the Bucs up one but a Polk timeout took slowed the FSW roll and three straight kills for the Eagles put Polk two points from the upset as they led it 13-11 and forced the Bucs to call their final timeout of the night. A Polk service error out of the break got FSW back to within one and a hammer out of the middle from Collier tied the score up once again, this time at 13. Some big time back row defense for the Bucs led to a kill off the block for Bonifacio to give FSW match point and Clara Maidantchik came up with her biggest dig of the night on the next rally and setup Purashaj to find Alarcon in the back row for the winner as the Bucs took the fifth 15-13 to win the match 3-2.
Alarcon finished with a massive double-double, banging home a career high 24 kills and pulling up 22 digs. Purashaj notched a double-double of her own with 57 assists and 10 digs. Alarcon's 24 kills and Purashaj's 57 assists both set an FSW five set single game record. Three other Bucs also reached double figures in kills as Bonifacio, Gasparini, and Collier each finished with 10 while Collier went errorless on the attack for the fourth consecutive contest. FSW outblocked Polk 12-10 in the win led by Boledovicova who was in on 5 rejections including a pair of solo stuffs.
The Bucs perfect season remains intact at 21-0 while improving to 10-0 in Citrus Conference action. The Bucs win, coupled with a Miami Dade loss to Daytona State puts FSW's magic number at two to win their fourth consecutive Conference Championship. The hard fought loss for Polk drops the Eagles to 11-7 overall and 7-4 in conference play where they now sit deadlocked in third position with Daytona State with three games left to go.
Things don't get any easier for the Bucs on Saturday as they are back on the road for their fourth straight away from home when they travel to Melbourne to take on #17 Eastern Florida State in a 2 PM first serve from Titan Field House.