Posted: Oct 26, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers put together a dominating performance against the Polk State Eagles on Saturday to clinch their fifth straight Conference Championship in their 2024 regular season finale at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.
Looking for their first win of the conference season, Polk State came out and scored the first two points of the match, but unfortunately for the Eagles, that would be the end of their happy memories for the afternoon. FSW got the ball back on a kill from Abby Toeniskoetter in the middle and rolled off eight points in a row with Magi Milicevic at the service line to quickly take control with a 9-2 lead. After Polk got three of the next four to cut the Bucs lead to 10-5, FSW went on another huge run, scoring 13 in a row behind a disruptive serve from Giovanna Rocha and an unrelenting offensive attack at the net led by Julija Grubisic Cabo and Nina Boledovicova who had four kills each in the run to open up a 23-5 lead late in the set. The Bucs took advantage of an Eagle service error to close it out as they took the first 25-7 to go up 1-0 in the match. The Bucs finished off 16 kills in the set and had just 2 errors, good for a .636 hitting percentage while Polk had just 2 total kills as a team and hit -.133.
The Bucs gave the Eagles no hope in the second as Patrycja Labucka and Nele Broszat took turns putting away the first four swings for FSW to give the Bucs a quick 4-0 lead and moments later setter Camilla Brandalise took matters into her own hands with a second ball kill to extend the Bucs lead to 11-3. The Bucs didn't let up as Anna Marzella dialed up an ace to make it 18-4 and three straight aces later on by Brandalise stretched it to a 24-6 FSW lead before Sofia Augusto put the set to bed with a kill on the outside as the Bucs won it again 25-7 to go up 2-0 in the match. After hitting .636 as a team in the first, the Bucs upped that to a nearly perfect .857 mark in the second with 12 kills on just 14 swings while also chalking up 6 aces.
It was another Bucs blitz on the Eagles to begin the third as FSW scored eight of the first nine points of the set to jump out to an 8-1 lead and then got three out of the next four to take an 11-2 lead midway through the set. Irina Makinen connected with Boledovicova in the middle for a rocket to make it 13-5 Bucs before three straight aces from Grubisic Cabo opened the Bucs lead to 16-5. Clara Maidantchik put together an eight point run at the service line to get the Bucs to match point and a Polk attack error finished things off as FSW took the third 25-10 to sweep the match 3-0.
FSW hit a scalding .538 in the win with seven different players recording errorless contests for the Purple and Aqua. Grubisic Cabo finished with 10 kills on 12 swings, good for the second best single game hitting percentage in program history at .833. Toeniskoetter and Boledovicova each had 5 kills and 0 errors on 7 attempts in the middle for the Bucs. Brandalise led the Bucs with 24 assists and 5 aces while also putting away 4 kills on 4 attacks from her setter position. The Bucs dominated the service line, finishing with 16 aces which is the most in a three set match in program history.
The Bucs win their ninth straight match via sweep to improve to 19-1 overall while finishing Citrus Conference play at 11-1, good for their fifth straight League Title. During their reign, FSW has won more Conference Championships (5) than conference games they have lost (3).
Polk drops to 4-12 overall and remains winless in Citrus Conference play at 0-11.
The Bucs now turn their attention to the postseason where they will begin action at the FCSAA State Tournament on Friday in Suncoast Credit Union Arena at 4:00 PM in the tournament semifinals. With two important conference games still remaining on the docket Monday, the Bucs opponent is still far from settled.
Tickets for the FCSAA State Tournament in Fort Myers can be purchased at the door for $15 per day or $20 for a tournament pass.
