CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Two and a half years ago, the Florida SouthWestern State Volleyball program didn't exist. There were no jerseys, no players, no schedule, and the court at Suncoast Credit Union Arena didn't even have Volleyball lines on it yet. What there was, was a vision from FSW leadership of what Volleyball could look like in arguably the best Athletic Department in the NJCAA ranks. After competing with some of the best teams in the country during their inaugural year in 2019, the Bucs took it to the next level last season, winning their first Suncoast Conference Championship and reaching the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time. Monday, the Bucs reached a new pinnacle as they were ranked the #1 team in the country in the week four NJCAA National Poll.
The Bucs extended their program long winning streak to eight games last week, sweeping #19 Daytona State and Eastern Florida before earning a key 3-1 win over #14 Hillsborough at home on Saturday to improve to 11-2 overall on the year. Adding two more wins over ranked opponents last week to their resume, FSW has now defeated seven top 20 teams in their first 13 games of the year.
There was some shuffling in the week four poll, but the same 20 teams remained from the week three rankings. FSW takes over the top spot from Iowa Western who dropped their first match of the season on Friday. Blinn, Snow, and Miami Dade remain the next three teams in the rankings while Butler makes a huge surge up to #7 after their win over Iowa Western as well as two other ranked wins on the week. Hillsborough and Daytona State, two of the Bucs victims last week, remain in the poll, both dropping one spot to #15 and #20.
The Bucs were scheduled to have a pair of road games on tap this week, but after Covid protocols shut down their opponent Tuesday, Polk State, they will now just see action once, at Santa Fe, on Saturday at 2:00 PM in Gainesville.