FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers won their third straight Battle at the Beach Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, sweeping #11 Utah State-Eastern and #5 Trinity Valley in straight sets to begin their 2024 title defense season 4-0. 

 

The Bucs hit the court bright and early on Saturday as they squared off against #11 Utah State-Eastern. FSW came out ready to go, taking an early 8-3 lead on the Eagles before running off seven more in a row after a sideout to blow the lead open to 15-4. A trio of aces from Sara Gasparini extended the Bucs advantage to 22-7 before Abby Toeniskoetter and Giovanna Rocha combined for a block to close the set out 25-8 to go ahead 1-0 in the match. 

 

Gasparini dialed up two more aces and had a pair of early kills in the second to stake the Bucs out to a 7-5 lead, but the Eagles had an answer and tied the score up at 9 moments later as the set got into it's middle portion. Three straight attack errors by USU gave the Bucs the lead back and moments later it was Toeniskoetter getting it done on both sides of the net, crushing an overpass to the ground before teaming up with Camilla Brandalise for a big block to put FSW in control, up 21-14 late in the set. Gasparini did the rest for the Bucs, going off the block for a kill to give FSW set point before crushing one cross court to finish things off as the Bucs took the second 25-16 to go ahead 2-0 in the match. 

 

The Bucs started on serve in the third and didn't give it up for a while. With Brandalise at the line, FSW scored the first eight points of the period, highlighted by a pair of kills and a block from Nele Broszat to go up 8-0 to begin the set.  The Bucs held their eight point lead to the middle of the set at 15-7 after a solo block from Toeniskoetter and it remained that way 10 points later with the score 20-12 in favor of FSW.  With the sweep on the horizon, Valentina Zevallos came off the Bucs bench and took the lead, banging a kill down out of the middle to put FSW within two points of the win before combining with Giovanna Rocha for a big block to close things out as the Bucs took the third 25-12 to win the match 3-0. 

 

Once again it was a balanced attack for the Bucs offense who hit .319 as a team and had three different players with 7 or more kills.  Grubisic Cabo led the way offensively for the Bucs with 9 kills while Toeniskoetter was in on a team high 6 blocks including 3 solo stuffs. 

 

The win was career victory number 200 for FSW Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen. 

 

 

The Bucs win, coupled with a Trinity Valley win over Daytona State meant that for the second straight year it would be #1 FSW and #5 Trinity Valley in the tournament championship game. 

 

It was a good match early on as expected between the Bucs and Cardinals as FSW and Trinity Valley split the first 12 points to a 6-6 deadlock. An ace from Gasparini put the Bucs ahead and started FSW on a 9-0 run highlighted by two big kills from Julija Grubisic Cabo and a rejection from Brandalise and Nina Boledovicova to put the Bucs up 15-6 midway through. Grubisic Cabo took over the second half of the set, banging home five kills over the final 15 points to lead the Bucs to a 25-11 set one win to go ahead 1-0 in the match. 

 

After getting smacked in the mouth in the first, the Cardinals came out fired up in the second, getting three blocks in the first seven points to jump out to a 6-1 lead on FSW. The Bucs slowly worked their way back into things and a slide from Brandalise to Boledovicova connected perfectly to tie the score at 9. Back to back Trinity Valley errors broke a 12-12 tie midway through and the Bucs would use the momentum to push out front, going up 20-16 on a kill from Rocha and closing things out on a Grubisic Cabo kill to take the set 25-18 and go ahead 2-0 in the match. 

 

FSW jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the third and never looked back. Another Brandalise to Boledovicova hookup put them up seven midway through the set at 13-6 and a kill from Sofia Augusto got them to 20 first at 20-13. The Bucs offense continued to roll late in the set as Boledovicova smashed home a couple of kills and Patrycja Labucka got another to give FSW the third 25-14 to finish off a 3-0 sweep of the Cardinals. 

 

Nine different Bucs had a kill in the win led once again by Grubisic Cabo who dialed up her first FSW double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Boledovicova rose to the occasion in the big spot for the Bucs with 9 kills on just 13 swings, good for a .692 hitting percentage. Brandalise dished out 27 assists while Clara Maidantchik pulled up a team best 17 digs in the victory. 

 

 

The Bucs wrap up a perfect weekend at 4-0 with three wins over the NJCAA Top 20 and two over the Top 5. Grubisic Cabo, Gasparini, and Brandalise were named to the All-Tournament Team while Toeniskoetter was named the Battle at the Beach MVP. 

 

Next up for FSW is a trip to the Cowboy State of Wyoming next weekend where they will take on #3 Northeastern, #12 New Mexico Military, #15 Casper, and Laramie County in Cheyenne Friday and Saturday.