Posted: Sep 17, 2024
MIAMI, Fla.- In a matchup that had parallels to the Fight of the Century in 1971 between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and #2 Miami Dade Sharks squared off in Miami Tuesday night in not only a rematch of the past two NJCAA National Championship Games won by the Bucs, but also a battle of the final two undefeated teams in the NJCAA Division I ranks this season. The clash lived up to it's billing and then some as the Bucs and Sharks went blow for blow for nearly two and a half hours before Miami Dade squeaked out a 16-14 win in the fifth set to hand FSW it's first loss of the 2024 season.
The match was a battle from the start as the Bucs and Sharks went back and forth early on, trading the first 20 points of the contest to a 10-10 tie. Still deadlocked at 14 moments later, the first three point run of the match gave Miami Dade a 17-14 advantage before back to back Shark hitting errors drew the Purple and Aqua back to within one. Another three point burst by the Sharks gave Miami Dade their largest lead of the set at 22-18, but just when they looked like they were down and out, the Bucs answered back with three of their own on kills from Nina Boledovicova and Sara Gasparini and an ace from Giovanna Rocha to make it a one point game once again at 22-21. Miami Dade got a sideout on a service error and pushed it to set point with a kill to make it 24-21. FSW fought off a pair of Shark attempts to finish it before finally putting it away out of a timeout to take the first 25-23 and grab a 1-0 lead in the match.
Undeterred, the Bucs got off to a quick start in the second, jumping out to a 5-1 and then 6-3 lead on the Sharks as they looked to even things up. Miami Dade wasn't ready for FSW to take control of the set quite yet though as they stormed back with six straight points to erase the Bucs advantage and take a 9-6 lead of their own. The Bucs worked their way back into the set when an ace from Anna Marzella drew them back to within one and a bullet out of the middle from Abby Toeniskoetter evened things up at 12. FSW continued to push, taking the lead on a Gasparini kill and capped an 8-2 run with another Toeniskoetter hookup with Camilla Brandalise in the middle to give the Bucs a 16-13 lead. FSW stretched the lead out to 21-16 and looked like they were going to run away with the set before the Sharks got a sideout and then dialed up back to back aces to draw back to within two at 21-19 ahead of an FSW timeout. The timeout gave the Bucs a reset and a kill from Boledovicova out of the break started a 4-0 run for FSW to finish the set as they took it 25-19 to level the score at a set a piece. The Bucs put on an offensive clinic in the period, finishing off 17 kills and recording just two errors, good for a .455 hitting mark in the set to bring the teams to even at the intermission.
After Miami Dade grabbed the first two points of the third, FSW rolled off four points in a row to take an early 4-2 lead and held that two point advantage to 8-6 after a Shark service error. Moments later, three straight Toeniskoetter kills out of the middle made it 13-9 Bucs and the sophomore continued her big night with her career high 13th kill of the night before getting in on a block with Gasparini to make it 18-13 FSW. Next it was Boledovicova's turn for the highlight reel as she picked up a pair of stuffs, one of the solo variety to make it 20-14 Buccaneers and FSW would put it in cruise control to the finish line, taking the set 25-16 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Bucs hit .346 in the set while holding Miami Dade to a -.067 mark.
The fourth was back and forth early on with FSW getting out to an early 7-5 lead after back to back aces from Gasparini before a 4-0 Shark run moments later gave Miami Dade an 11-9 lead at the 20 point mark. The teams went back and forth to what the Bucs thought was a 17-17 tie, but after some discussion at the scorer's table, it was determined that it was the Sharks in front by one, 18-17. A kill from Julija Grubisic Cabo leveled things up, but a Bucs service error handed the lead back to the Sharks 19-18. Miami Dade rode a red hot Katielle Alonzo from there as the sophomore finished off three straight kills to make it 22-18 and the Sharks went on to take it 25-20 to even the match at two sets a piece and send things to a fifth and deciding period.
Things were dead even early in the fifth as neither team gave an inch, playing to a 5-5 tie 10 points in. Neither team could string together two in a row over the next 16 points as FSW took the lead eight times and eight times the Sharks answered, keeping the game deadlocked at 13 late in the period. Miami Dade had the first crack at the match as they took a 14-13 lead, but the Bucs responded, fighting it off on a Brandalise to Grubisic Cabo hookup to tie the score back up at 14. The Sharks retook the lead out of a timeout and the Bucs couldn't do the same after their final stoppage as Miami Dade put away an FSW overpass to seal it, taking the fifth 16-14 to win the match 3-2.
The loss spoiled some outstanding individual efforts by the Bucs as Toeniskoetter nearly doubled her previous career high with 21 kills in the match, a new program record from a middle hitter, while hitting .475, the third best mark of any Buccaneer player in a five set match in program history. Brandalise finished with 60 assists in the loss, tying a program record, while leading a Bucs offense that hit .301, the best hitting percentage in a five set match in program history. Grubisic Cabo finished with a 12 kill, 15 dig double-double while Boledovicova had a season high 12 kills to go along with a team best 7 blocks in the defeat.
The Bucs drop their first match of the season to fall to 10-1 overall and 2-1 in Citrus Conference play while Miami Dade remains undefeated at 13-0 overall and 4-0 in league action.
FSW will be back in action on Saturday when they return home to Suncoast Credit Union Arena to host Santa Fe in a Citrus Conference battle starting at 2 PM.
