Posted: Oct 25, 2023
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers bounced back from their first loss of the season with a vengeance Wednesday night, taking their frustrations out on the unsuspecting Indian River State Pioneers in a 3-0 sweep to close out the 2023 regular season 24-1.
The Bucs high powered offense was on full display early on as FSW hammered down seven kills in the first 10 points of the game to take a quick 8-2 lead on the Pioneers. They continued to pour it on later in the set as Roberta Purashaj found Izzy Collier in the middle before pushing one to the outside to Alondra Alarcon for a shot down the line to extend it to a 17-7 game. An ace from Anna Marzella pushed it to set point for the Purple and Aqua before Madu Fontes closed things out with a kill to give FSW the set 25-12 to go up 1-0 in the match. The Bucs finished with 19 kills in the set with Fontes and Victoria Zibecchi recording six each and Alarcon adding five more.
The second was all FSW from the start as the Bucs jumped out to a 10-3 advantage early on after a kill from Giulia Bonifacio and then an ace from the sophomore hitter. After Indian River picked up a sideout, FSW rolled off six more in a row highlighted by a huge stuff block from Alarcon and Abby Toeniskoetter to cushion the lead to 16-4. The Bucs never relented, scoring the final four points of the set and putting the cherry on top with a block from Collier and Alarcon to take it 25-7 to go up 2-0 in the match. The offense was again coming from all directions in the second as FSW finished the period hitting .700 with 14 kills and 0 errors on 20 swings to finish the second set with a .608 hitting percentage as a team through two.
Indian River found their only bright spot of the night to begin the third as the Pioneers played level with the Nation's top team through 22 points. A kill from Fontes on the outside got the Bucs back on track and FSW went on to score seven of the next eight points to take an 18-12 lead moments later. Luana Vieira went crosscourt to put the Bucs up 21-15 before Camila Brandalise found Zibecchi on the right side for the winner as FSW took the set 25-18 to sweep the match 3-0.
The Bucs hit a scalding .512 on the night, marking the second best single game hitting percentage percentage in program history. Toeniskoetter, Alarcon, Bonifacio, and Collier all recorded 5 or more kills without a single error while Fontes and Zibecchi combined for 21 kills to lead the way. Purashaj dished out 36 assists, connecting with her hitters on kills on 64% of her sets to break the Bucs all-time career assist record with 1,663. Marzella and Toeniskoetter led the defense with Marzella pacing the club with 15 digs and Toeniskoetter recording 5 blocks in her two sets played.
FSW wraps up the regular season with a win to head to the postseason with a 24-1 record while Indian River drops to 7-15. The Bucs close their fourth straight Conference Championship season with a 13-1 mark in Citrus Conference action.
The Bucs now turn their attention to the postseason where they will host the NJCAA Region VIII Tournament in Suncoast Credit Union Arena starting on Friday, November 3rd when they take on the winner of the Polk State/Eastern Florida game in the semifinals in a 4 PM first serve in Fort Myers.