FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers made short work of the #17 Daytona State Falcons Monday night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, sweeping past their Citrus Conference rivals 3-0 in a dominating effort to improve to 12-1 on the year.
Things started a bit inauspiciously for the Bucs as they served the opening point of the game into the net and Daytona State scored the next two to grab an early 3-0 lead in the first. It got better from there for the Bucs though as they rolled off five straight to take a 5-3 lead and never looked back. An ace from Camilla Brandalise midway through the set put FSW up 11-6 and a big solo block from Nina Boledovicova kept it a five point lead 10 points later at 16-11. Back to back service aces from Sofia Augusto stretched the Bucs lead to seven and they would score six of the final seven points of the period, capped off by a Irina Makinen to Abby Toeniskoetter hookup to put it away 25-17 to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Bucs jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second and led it 10-3 in the blink of an eye after a pair of stuffs from Boledovicova and Patrycja Labucka. The block party continued as Toeniskoetter and Julija Grubisic Cabo paired up to make it 15-4 and Toeniskoetter got a solo stuff to extend the lead to 19-8. A pair of Giovanna Rocha kills put the Bucs on the doorstep in the second and a Falcon error sealed their fate as FSW took the second 25-12 to go ahead 2-0 into the intermission.
FSW got off to another good start in the third as a kill from Magi Milicevic gave them an early 7-3 lead and a kill from Grubisic Cabo made it a 14-8 game in favor of the Bucs midway through the set. Nele Broszat put the Bucs up 10 and after a Daytona sideout, FSW rolled off four more in a row to open up a 22-9 advantage. The Falcons fought off the first three match point attempts by the Bucs, but Rocha found a hole in their defense to finish it off for FSW as the Bucs took the third 25-13 to complete the sweep 3-0.
Grubisic Cabo led the Bucs attack with a season high 14 kills while also collecting a team best 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Rocha added 9 kills for the Bucs while Toeniskoetter had 6 on 8 swings, good for a .750 hitting mark in the win. Brandalise dished out a team high 18 assists while Anna Marzella had 3 of the Bucs 8 aces in the victory.
FSW improves to 12-1 overall and 4-1 in Citrus Conference play with the win. The victory over the 17th ranked Falcons marks the Bucs ninth of the season over a ranked foe. Daytona falls to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in conference action with the loss.
The Bucs are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Winter Haven to take on Polk State to wrap up the first half of Citrus Conference play.
