Posted: Nov 22, 2024
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- Going into Thursday's NJCAA National Tournament Quarterfinal matchup with the #8 Utah State Eastern Golden Eagles, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers had only gone more than three sets three times during the entirety of the 2024 season. Thursday they had their work cut out for them though as the Golden Eagles took them to the brink, but the Bucs didn't falter, pulling out a thrilling five set win, including a 15-13 victory in the fifth to punch their ticket to Friday's Final Four.
After cruising to a 3-0 win on Wednesday in the opening round, the Bucs didn't get off to the start they were looking for in Thursday's quarterfinal as they fell behind 5-2 right off the bat and found themselves in a 15-10 deficit midway through the first. Three straight points out of a timeout got the Bucs back to within two, but they were never able to get any closer as Utah State Eastern answered with a 3-0 run of their own before going on to finish off a 25-18 first set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Bucs couldn't slow down the Eagles as USUE finished the set with 18 kills and a .405 hitting percentage to put FSW up against just their second set deficit of the season.
It was the Abby Toeniskoetter show for the Bucs to get out to a lead in the second as the sophomore banged one to the floor on the first point of the set before going back to the service line where she notched back to back aces to give FSW a quick 3-0 lead. The Bucs continued to put pressure on the Eagles on their serve as Julija Grubisic Cabo picked up back to back aces of her own to make it 9-3 and FSW kept that six point lead to the middle of the set at 13-7 after Toeniskoetter and Grubisic Cabo finished off consecutive kills. It looked like FSW was going to cruise to a win to tie things up as they continued to lead it big, 22-15 late in the set, but the Eagles weren't ready to let that happen so easily. USUE scored three straight to cut the Bucs lead in half and then three more out of a timeout to all of a sudden make it a one point game at 22-21. The teams traded the next four points to 24-23 before a kill for the Eagles knotted the score at 24 and forced extra points. Irina Makinen found Grubisic Cabo on the outside to push the Bucs to set point and Patrycja Labucka and Nina Boledovicova finished it off with a block on the outside as FSW took the second 26-24 to even the match at a set a piece.
The third was tightly contested early on as the Bucs and Eagles split the first 14 points of the period to a 7-7 tie before a 4-0 burst by FSW gave the Bucs their first multi-point lead of the period at 11-8. USUE got the next two points to make it a one point game, but the Bucs got three blocks in the next four plays from Toeniskoetter and Giovanna Rocha to cushion the lead back to five at 15-10 midway through. An ace from Irina Makinen got the Bucs to 20 and a kill from Boledovicova out of the middle gave them 10 cracks at set point, leading 24-14. Utah State Eastern fought off the Bucs first two set point opportunities before the Bucs put things in the books with a kill from Boledovicova to take it 25-16 and go ahead 2-0 in the match.
Just when it looked like the Bucs had all of the momentum, here came the Eagles. USUE scored 7 of the first 9 points of the fourth to jump out to a 7-2 advantage and carried that lead on moments later at 13-6. An Eagle service error got the Bucs the ball back and spurred a 5-0 run to draw them back to within two at 13-11. Camilla Brandalise found Grubisic Cabo to tie the score at 14 and an ace from Toeniskoetter gave the Bucs their first lead of the set at 15-14. Back and forth the Bucs and Eagles went from there finding themselves in a race to five, deadlocked at 20-20. A pair of kills from USUE followed by a solo block in the middle put the Eagles on the doorstep, but FSW fought off two set points to make it a one point game at 24-23. The Golden Eagles wouldn't let FSW draw even though, getting a kill on the outside on the next point, cutting the Bucs rally short and taking the set 25-23 to send the match to a fifth and deciding period.
The Bucs got off to a rough start in the fifth as USUE jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but they quickly recovered to tie the score at 5 on a kill from Grubisic Cabo and a block from Boledovicova and Magi Milicevic. FSW went up one before a service error and back to back kills from the Eagles gave them a two point advantage and another kill out of a timeout put USUE in front 10-7. The Bucs kept fighting, getting kills from Labucka and Toeniskoetter to get back to within one and a huge block from Rocha and Toensikoetter knotted the score up at 10 and made it a race to five. The Bucs and Eagles traded points to 12-12 when an attack originally called FSW's way was reversed upon review to make it 13-12 USUE. The Bucs were undetered as Rocha went off the block to even things back up and Brandalise connected with Boledovicova in the middle for a kill to give FSW their first match point, leading 14-13. USUE tried to slow things down with a timeout, but the Bucs weren't ready for this one to go any longer as Grubisic Cabo ripped one down the line to put it in the books as the Bucs won the fifth 15-13 to take the match 3-2.
The knock down, drag out between the Region 8 and Region 18 Champs featured 129 total kills, 65 for FSW and 64 for USUE. The 65 kills for the Bucs ties a single game National Tournament program record set during the 2020 tournament against Blinn. Five different Bucs reached double figures in kills for the first time this season. Grubisic Cabo led the way with 14 kills and 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season while Toeniskoetter filled up the stat sheet while flirting with a triple-double with 12 kills and a career high 10 blocks and 6 aces. Rocha and Boledovicova each had 10 kills, Rocha pairing it with a career high 8 blocks and Boledovicova notching hers on just 17 swings, good for a .588 hitting percentage. Labucka set a career high of her own with 11 kills while hitting .333 in the win. Brandalise led the Bucs with 31 assists while Makinen added 26. Clara Maidantchik finished with a team high 14 digs for the Bucs.
FSW wins their 14th straight to improve to 24-1 on the year while Utah State Eastern falls to 24-7.
The Bucs advance to the Final Four Friday where they will take on #10 Colby at 7 PM (CT) with a trip to the Championship Game on the line. In the other semifinal it will be former FSW Assistant Coach Megan Besecker and the Barton Cougars taking on Miami Dade who like the Bucs, survived a five set upset bid by Missouri State-West Plains in their quarterfinal matchup.
