CHEYENNE, Wyo.- After an opening weekend in which they were rarely challenged, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers got their first taste of adversity on Friday in the Springhill Suites Cheyenne Invitational. The Bucs were first pushed by a tough #12 New Mexico Military squad in their tournament opener, eventually coming out on top of a 3-1 decision before going blow for blow with #3 Northeastern, pulling out three tough set wins for their third sweep of a Top 5 ranked opponent already this season. 

 

The Bucs knew they would have their hands full in their first match of the weekend against a New Mexico Military squad that spent most of the 2023 season ranked inside the Top 10 of the NJCAA National Rankings.

 

FSW got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the first, but the Broncos fought back, leveling the score at 7 moments later.  A kill on the outside from Sara Gasparini put the Bucs back in front and the sophomore dialed up an ace to start a 10-3 run to open up a 17-10 lead for the Purple and Aqua. NMMI never threatened again as Julija Grubisic Cabo and Abby Toeniskoetter combined for a big block to close out the set and give FSW a 25-16 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match. 

 

The second set followed an opposite script. With the score tied 6-6 early on, it was the Broncos making a 9-2 mid set run to take a 15-8 lead on the Bucs. FSW showed some fight, scoring four straight later in the set to draw back to within three at 19-16, but a service error halted their momentum and they never regained it as NMMI closed out the set with back to back kills to take it 25-18 to even the match at a set a piece. 

 

FSW used a big block early in the third set to jump out to a 7-3 lead and a second ball kill from Camilla Brandalise followed by a Grubisic Cabo kill on the outside made it 12-5 Bucs moments later.  FSW took a 10 point lead at 17-7 after back to back NMMI attack errors and the Bucs put things away 25-12 on a Gasparini kill to take a 2-1 lead in the match. 

 

With their backs to the wall, NMMI came out swinging in the fourth, taking a 8-6 lead as they looked to extend the match to a fifth. Grubisic Cabo and Brandalise continued their connection to draw the Bucs even and put them ahead 12-11 and a block from Nina Boledovicova and Gasparini extended the FSW lead to 17-13 later in the set. The Bucs looked like they were going to waltz  to the victory, leading 23-17, but the Broncos came flying back into the set, drawing to within one and then leveling the score at 24 before an FSW hitting error gave NMMI set point at 25-24. A kill from Toeniskoetter kept the Bucs alive and the two teams went back and forth to a 26-26 deadlock before another Toeniskoetter kill followed by a NMMI attack error sealed the Broncos fate with FSW taking a wild fourth set 28-26 to win the match 3-1. 

 

The Bucs had 20 more kills as a team than the Broncos with 54 to NMMI's 34, but it was 27 FSW hitting errors and 12 service errors that helped in part to keep the Broncos in the game. Gasparini notched a double-double with a career high 15 kills to go along with 12 digs while Grubisic Cabo put up one of her own with 13 kills and 10 digs. Brandalise dished out 48 assists and had 5 blocks from her setter position while Anna Marzella and Clara Maidantchik combined for 28 digs on the FSW back row. Boledovicova led a 13 block effort for FSW with a career high 10 including one solo stuff. 

 

 

Things didn't get any easier for the Bucs in their second matchup of the afternoon as they went toe to toe with #3 Northeastern in their third match against a Top 5 ranked opponent this season. 

 

It was a knock down, drag out from the start between the two National Championship contenders as the Bucs and Plainswomen went back and forth to a 7-7 tie through the first 14 points of action. Back to back kills from Toeniskoetter broke the tie, but Northeastern fought back to tie the score at 12 at the midway point of the period. It remained tied later on at 19 when a Plainswomen block gave NJC 20 first. Brandalise found Boledovicova to even things back up and the two combined on a block to put FSW in front for good as the Bucs went on to score 8 of the final 10 points of the set, capped off by a pair of kills from Grubisic Cabo to closed things out and give the Bucs a 25-21 win to go up in the match 1-0. 

 

Neither side could find any real estate again in the second as FSW and Northeastern stayed attached at the hip to an 11-11 deadlock midway through and didn't see either side lead by more than two points until a huge block from Toeniskoetter and Patrycja Labucka made it 21-18 Buccaneers late in the set. Toeniskoetter continued to make an impact in all phases of the game, getting a kill to make it 23-19 before finishing the Plainswomen off 25-19 with an ace to give the Bucs a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. 

 

With momentum on their side, the Bucs raced out to a 6-2 lead in the third, but Northeastern roared back to erase the FSW lead and take an 8-7 lead of their own. The back and forth continued with Sofia Augusto dialing up an ace to level the score before back to back aces from Marzella moments later made it 12-9 FSW.  The Bucs continued to push, extending their lead to 22-15 before four straight from NJC brought the Plainswomen back to within three at 22-19 late in the period. A kill from Grubisic Cabo got FSW back on track and Brandalise found Labucka for the winner as the Bucs took the third 25-20 to sweep the match 3-0. 

 

The Bucs managed to hit just .192 in the game, but held Northeastern to a .081 mark in the victory. Toeniskoetter had her second straight 10 kill match while Grubisic Cabo had her fifth double digit kill effort in six matches this season. Brandalise had a team high 12 digs to go along with 27 assists for her first double-double of the year. 

 

 

 

FSW remained unbeaten at 6-0 on the season with the victories, earning wins numbers four and five over ranked opponents already this season. 

 

Tomorrow the Bucs will turn their attention to a couple teams from the Cowboy State as they take on the host Golden Eagles of Laramie County at 1:00 PM (ET) before wrapping up their weekend with a 5 PM (ET) against #16 Casper.