Posted: Nov 04, 2023
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The top seeded Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers defended their home court against a pesky 4th seeded Polk State squad on Friday at the FCSAA State Tournament in Fort Myers, getting double-doubles from Alondra Alarcon, Roberta Purashaj, Victoria Zibecchi, and Sara Gasparini in a 3-1 win over the Eagles to advance to the State Championship game Saturday where they will once again square off with the 2nd seeded Miami Dade Sharks in round three between the two heavyweights this season.
It was a good game early on in the first as the Bucs and Eagles split the first 14 points of the game and found themselves tied at 7-7. A 5-1 run for FSW midway through the set gave the Bucs some breathing room with a 13-9 lead, but back came Polk State, closing the gap to just one at 18-17 moments later. A Polk service error and an ace from Roberta Purashaj put the Bucs back up three and back to back kills from Victoria Zibecchi put FSW on the brink of the first set victory leading 23-17. A Polk service error pushed the Bucs to set point and another mistake the line for the Eagles sealed it as FSW took the first 25-19 to go ahead 1-0 in the match.
For the second straight set, neither team was able to pull out to an early lead as they were once again tied at 7 after 14 points of action. The Bucs went to the pins for their next three points as Zibecchi, Alondra Alarcon, and Sara Gasparini finished off kills to break the tie and put them up 10-7. The Bucs continued to lead by three midway through the set when they went ice cold, allowing Polk to go on an 8-0 run to erase the FSW lead and take an 18-13 lead of their own. The Bucs finally got the ball back on a kill from Alarcon and a huge solo block from Purashaj got FSW back to within one at 18-17. Moments later a Polk hitting error tied the game at 19, but FSW couldn't maintain the momentum as the Eagles scored six of the final eight of the set to take it 25-21 and level the match at a set a piece.
An early run for the Bucs in the third, including three straight aces by Alarcon gave FSW a quick 9-3 lead and they kept the six point lead to the midway point of the set as Nina Boledovicova drilled one to the floor in the middle to make it 13-7. Polk continued to hang around until a 4-0 burst for the Bucs late highlighted by a huge block from Boledovicova and Gasparini put FSW up 23-13 before going on to win it 25-15 on a Zibecchi ace.
The fourth followed a similar script as the third for FSW as an early push got them out to a lead and a 4-0 run midset made it 13-7 Buccaneers. Alarcon's 15th kill of the afternoon put the Bucs up 17-9 and moments later a pancake from Boledovicova extended a play and Gasparini finished it off on the other end to make it a 10 point game at 20-10. A monster block from Boledovicova and Purashaj pushed the Bucs to a dozen match points and the freshman then stepped back to the service line and ended it there with her third ace of the game to give the Bucs the fourth 25-13 to take the match 3-1.
The Bucs finished the match with 23 kills and just 2 errors in the final two sets to end the game hitting .254 after the slow start. Four Bucs finished with double-doubles as Alarcon had 16 kills and 13 digs, Zibecchi had 10 kills and 13 digs, Gasparini just about matched her with 10 kills and 12 digs, and Purashaj posted 42 assists, 12 digs, and 5 blocks. Boledovicova and Izzy Collier combined for 14 kills on 24 swings without an error out of the middle for the Bucs.
FSW improves to 25-1 with the victory and collects its 14th win of the season over a Top 20 ranked opponent while Polk State falls to 13-10 on the year.
The Bucs advance to their second straight FCSAA State Championship Game on Saturday where they will take on Miami Dade in a Championship Game rematch from a season ago at 3 PM in Suncoast Arena.
With the win, the Bucs also qualify for the NJCAA Atlantic District Championship Game with a big to the National Tournament on the line Sunday in Suncoast Arena.