FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers remained unbeaten on the young 2023 season on Friday, defeating the Palm Beach State Panthers in a swift 1:02 in their home opener before dispatching #9 Utah State-Eastern 3-0 in their nightcap at the Adventures in Paradise Battle at the Beach in Suncoast Credit Union Arena to move to 6-0 on the year. 

 

The Bucs got the day started with a West Coast/East Coast battle with the Palm Beach State Panthers.  It didn't take long for the Bucs to pull away as back to back blocks from Nina Boledovicova early on put them up 6-2 and a Roberta Purashaj to Anica Bobic hookup made it a 12-4 game midway through the first set.  An ace from Alondra Alarcon made it 20-7 FSW and a back row bullet from the sophomore sealed it for the Purple and Aqua as the Bucs took the first 25-10. 

 

It was more of the same in the second for the Bucs as they once again raced out to a 6-2 lead and opened it up to a 12-4 advantage when Boledovicova and Camila Brandalise combined on a stuff midway through the period.  The Bucs continued their push with Bobic at the service line, running their lead all the way up to 17-4 after an ace by the sophomore. Abby Toeniskoetter got FSW to 20 first with a kill and the freshman middle finished the Panthers off with another shot to give the Bucs the second 25-7 to go ahead 2-0 in the match. 

 

The third set was competitive early on with FSW holding just a one point lead, 11-10 at the 21 point mark. A pair of aces from Clara Maidantchik cushioned the lead to three and spurred a 8-1 run by the Bucs to blow the lead open to 19-11.  Luana Vieira dialed up an ace to give the Bucs set point and Sara Gasparini put it in the books with a kill into the back corner as FSW took the set 25-15 to sweep the match 3-0. 

 

The stat sheet was expectedly as lopsided as the scoreboard as FSW finished off 41 kills and hit .486 as a team, their fourth best single game mark in program history, while Palm Beach had just 9 kills in the match and hit -.031.  Alarcon and Boledovicova led the way for FSW, combining for 17 kills on just 21 swings, good for a cool .809 hitting percentage. Brandalise led the Bucs with 20 assists while Maidantchik paced the club in both digs with 12 and aces with 4.  

 

 

The Bucs second match of the day pitted them against a familiar National Tournament foe in #9 Utah State-Eastern. 

 

The first was deadlocked at 6 early on when a kill from Bobic and three straight aces from Boledovicova put FSW in front 10-6. Slowly the Bucs pulled away, getting back to back kills from Victoria Zibecchi to make it 13-7 and in the blink of an eye it was 19-9 FSW after two more aces from Maidantchik. The Eagles made one last push to make things interesting, but the magic of Roberta Purashaj at the setter position was too much for USU-Eastern as the sophomore All-American dished assists to three different hitters to finish the set as the Bucs took it 25-15 to go ahead 1-0 in the match. 

 

The second was all Bucs, all the time. FSW rushed out to a 5-1 lead and quickly made it 9-2 after a triple block in the middle by Boledovicova, Bobic, and Purashaj. The Eagles showed some life midway through the set, getting back to within four, but they would get no closer as four straight from the Bucs made it 19-11 and they would go on to win it 25-16 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.  

 

Purashaj started the third with a pair of aces and got the Bucs out to a 4-0 lead and they never looked back.  They cushioned their lead to 7-2 and then used a 6-0 midset run to make it 15-6. The lead ballooned to 20-9 after a pair of stuff blocks from Zibecchi and Izzy Collier and back to back attack errors by the Eagles sealed their fate as the Bucs took the third 25-10 to sweep the match 3-0. 

 

Alarcon led the Bucs with a 12 kill/12 dig double-double in the win while Zibecchi chipped in 9 and Bobic 7 more.  Purashaj quarterbacked the offense to a .313 hitting percentage in the win while dishing out 27 assists. The Bucs serve proved a weapon against the Eagles as they chalked up a program record 15 aces for a three set match, including a match high 6 from Boledovicova.  

 

 

 

The Bucs improve to 6-0 on the year with the wins, remaining perfect through 18 sets played this season.  

 

FSW will put their unblemished mark on the line Saturday with a pair of marquee matchups as they will take on #14 Monroe and #7 Trinity Valley on day two of the Adventures in Paradise Battle at the Beach beginning with a 9 AM start against the Mustangs at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.