FORT MYERS, Fla.- Three things are certain in life; taxes, death, and Florida SouthWestern and Miami Dade meeting in the FCSAA State Championship Game.  That remained true on Friday as #1 FSW hammered Daytona State in their State Tournament Semifinal before #2 Miami Dade did the same to Hillsborough in the night cap to set up the Championship matchup for the third straight season Saturday afternoon at 4 PM at Suncoast Arena in Fort Myers. 

 

After earning the top seed for the tournament and a first round bye, the Bucs began their State Tournament journey straight in the semifinals where they squared off against Daytona State for the third time this season. The Bucs got off to a bit of a slow start in the first, falling behind 3-2 after five points, but a kill from Julija Grubisic Cabo got them the ball back and they rolled off five straight points after that to take an 8-3 lead. A service error stopped their run, but they got a first ball sideout on their first opportunity and went on another 4-0 run to open up a 12-4 lead midway through the set. The Bucs continued to put pressure on the Falcons everywhere they looked as Abby Toeniskoetter hammered down a kill and Camilla Brandalise dialed up an ace to blow the lead open to 18-5. Daytona never threatened again and an attack into the net for the Falcons sealed their fate as FSW dominated the first to take it 25-8 to go ahead 1-0 in the match. The Bucs hit .429 as a team in the set while holding Daytona to a -.333 mark with just 2 kills on 21 swings. 

 

It looked like the second set was in line for a repeat as Irina Makinen put together an 8-0 run at the service line early in the period to open up a 13-4 lead for FSW. The Bucs went up 10 on a block from Nina Boledovicova and Patrycja Labucka and remained up big later on when a kill from Magi Milicevic made it 18-9. The Bucs put things on cruise control a little early as Daytona trimmed the lead to six and then forced an FSW timeout when they made it a four point game, but Makinen found Milicevic on the outside for a kill to finally put it in the book as the Bucs finished off the second 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. 

 

The Bucs got out to a hot start in the third, getting three kills from Toeniskoetter and another from Grubisic Cabo to take a quick 4-0 lead. After a couple Falcon points, it was right back to the FSW show as the Bucs rolled off five in a row including back to back aces from Toeniskoetter to open up a 9-2 lead to force a Daytona timeout. The Bucs didn't relent, pushing their lead to 10 on a bullet from Boledovicova and going up 21-7 after another Grubisic Cabo kill. All that was left in question was the final score and that was settled quickly as Grubisic Cabo picked up her 10^th kill of the afternoon on an out of system ball as the Bucs finished things off 25-9 to sweep the match 3-0. 

 

The Bucs hit .333 as a team in the win while using an eight block effort to hold Daytona State to a -.063 mark. It was a balanced effort for the Bucs offensively as five players had five or more kills. Grubisic Cabo led the way with 10 kills while Toeniskoetter had 7 on 10 swings and Giovanna Rocha had a touchdown's worth as well. Brandalise dished out 22 assists for the Bucs in the win while Boledovicova and Toeniskoetter were each in on 4 blocks for FSW. 

 

FSW marches on to their third straight FCSAA State Championship Game appearance with the win as they improve to 20-1 on the season while Daytona State falls to the tournament's third place game with a 10-13 record.  

 

The Bucs quickly turn their attention to their Sunshine State rivals Miami Dade who they meet in the tournament championship game Saturday at 4:00 PM in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.  

 

With the win Friday, the Bucs punch their ticket to the NJCAA Atlantic District Championships next Saturday in South Carolina with a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament on the line.