FORT MYERS, Fla.- If Saturday was any preview of what to come over the next month of the NJCAA Volleyball season, Florida SouthWestern fans are in for another dramatic finish in the Bucs quest for their fourth straight National Championship. The top ranked Bucs and 3^rd ranked Miami Dade Sharks went toe to toe Saturday in Suncoast Credit Union Arena in a rematch of last year's National Championship match with the teams splitting the first two sets before the Sharks snuck out two point wins in the third and fourth to win the match 3-1 and hand FSW their first loss of Citrus Conference play. 

 

As expected, it was a tightly contested battle early on between the Bucs and Sharks as they split the first 20 points of the match with the only lead larger than one point coming at 3-1 to begin the contest. Miami Dade pushed ahead by a pair midway through, but four straight from the Bucs gave them the lead back before a service error tied the score back up at 15. It was a one point Sharks lead at 20-19 when an FSW service error gave Miami Dade some breathing room and they took full advantage, getting back to back blocks to take a 23-19 lead before finishing the Bucs off 25-19 to ahead 1-0 in the match. 

 

The second followed a similar script early on as the Bucs got out to an early 6-3 lead but the Sharks quickly answered to tie the score up and the teams danced back and forth to an 11-11 deadlock midway through. Miami Dade went in front 16-14 ahead of an FSW timeout, but three kills from Sara Gamboa and an ace from Aleksandra Lucic put the Bucs back in front 19-16. It remained a three point game to set point when Irina Makinen found Lucic in the middle for the winner as FSW took the second 25-21 to even the match into the intermission. 

 

For the first time on the afternoon, the Bucs and Sharks were not tied through the first 20 points in the third as Miami Dade got out to an 11-9 lead.  The Sharks remained in front through the middle of the set until a 3-0 run for FSW including a huge block from Lucic and Makinen knotted the score at 17. It was back and forth over the next eight points with the score remaining tied at 21. A service error by the Bucs gave the Sharks the ball back and they picked up the next two to give them three cracks at set point, leading 24-21. A Miami Dade hitting error followed by a huge solo block from Lucic and another stuff from Lucic and Letizia Okonofua tied the game at 24 and stretched the set to extra points. Another ill timed FSW service error gave the Sharks another chance to take the set, but again the Bucs fought off the set point opportunity to tie the score at 25. Like a heavyweight prize fight, the Bucs and Sharks traded jabs to 29-29, but it was Miami Dade that landed the knockout punch with a kill on the outside followed by an FSW attack out of bounds to bring the set to a close with the Sharks taking it 31-29 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. 

 

With their bubble burst at the end of the third, the Bucs came out flat in the fourth, falling behind 6-0 after four attack errors and a reception error allowed the Sharks to take a big early lead. The Bucs slowly climbed their way back into the set, getting a cross court rocket from Gamboa to make it just a two point game, 12-10 midway through. The Sharks built their lead back to five at 19-14 before a kill from Lucic and back to back aces from Giovanna Rocha made it a two point game once again ahead of a Miami Dade timeout. Rocha came out of the stoppage with another ace to get the Bucs back to within one and the teams split the next two points to a 21-20 score. Gamboa picked up her 15^th kill of the match to tie the score at 21 and another FSW ace, this time from Lucic gave the Bucs their first lead of the set at 22-21. Kills back and forth for the next three points tied the score back up at 23, sending the set into crunch time all knotted up. The Bucs had a chance to take the lead with a swing, but a big block from the Sharks instead gave them match point and another stuff from Miami Dade was all she wrote for FSW as the Sharks took the fourth 25-23 to stun the Bucs 3-1. 

 

The match featured 41 ties and 16 lead changes with the two teams combining for 111 kills in the four setter. Gamboa led the Bucs with 17 kills while Okonofua was the only other player to reach double digits with 10. Makinen distrubuted 48 assists for the Bucs while Sarah Webb had her second straight 20 dig match and Lucic and Rocha each had 3 aces. 

 

The Bucs see their 17 game winning streak come to an end at the hands of their rivals as they drop to 21-2 overall and fall in the first time in Citrus Conference play at 10-1. Miami Dade avenges their loss to the Bucs earlier this season as they improve to 21-2 overall and tie FSW atop the conference standings at 10-1. 

 

FSW will close the regular season on Sophomore Night in Suncoast Arena Wednesday when they honor their eight sophomores playing in their final regular season games at home in Fort Myers in a pregame ceremony ahead of their 6 PM start.