Five Bucs Named All-Conference, Purashaj Player of the Year
Five Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and their Coach were honored by the Citrus Conference Thursday night at the FCSAA State Tournament Banquet in Fort Myers as Alondra Alarcon, Victoria Zibecchi, Izzy Collier, and Nina Boledovicova were named All-Conference selections while Roberta Purashaj was named the Citrus Conference and FCSAA Player of the Year and Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was named the Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Five Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and their Coach were honored by the Citrus Conference Thursday night at the FCSAA State Tournament Banquet in Fort Myers as Alondra Alarcon, Victoria Zibecchi, Izzy Collier, and Nina Boledovicova were named All-Conference selections while Roberta Purashaj was named the Citrus Conference and FCSAA Player of the Year and Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was named the Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season.
Purashaj becomes the second Buccaneer to earn Conference Player of the Year honors, joining Yasso Amin who did so in 2020. She finished 2nd in the state and 4th Nationally during the regular season in assists per set with 10.81 while quarterbacking the Bucs to the Nation's top team hitting percentage at .318. She had 15 matches of 30+ assists this season including a pair of 50 assist performances against Polk State and Miami Dade.
Alarcon earns 1st Team All-Conference and All-State honors for the second straight season after finishing 3rd in the state in both kills per set at 4.03 and hitting percentage at .323. A constant at the top of the Bucs statistical leaderboards, she had 10 double-doubles on the year including the first 20/20 effort in FSW program history against Polk State.
Zibecchi was the Bucs third 1st Team All-Conference and All-State pick. She finished in the Top 10 in the state in both kills per set with 2.94 and in hitting percentage at .278. She had nine matches of 10 or more kills including a career high 16 kill performance late in the season against Miami Dade.
Collier was also named 1st Team All-Conference and to the All-State squad after leading the state in blocks per set this season with 1.26. She had at least one block in every match this season and had 10 matches with five or more blocks. She also contributed on the offensive end, chipping in 1.59 kills per set and hitting .423.
Boledovicova was the lone Buc to earn 2nd Team All-Conference accolades. She finished the regular season 4th in the state in blocks per set at 0.97 and was also a factor on the offensive end putting up 1.70 kills per set and a .401 hitting percentage. Her best effort of the season came against #5 Salt Lake when she finished off 6 kills on 9 swings, good for a .667 hitting percentage, while also recording 6 blocks in a sweep of the Bruins.
Also honored was FSW Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen who led the Bucs to a 24-1 regular season record, a 10 week stay at #1 in the NJCAA National Rankings, and the Bucs fourth consecutive Conference Championship this season. For her efforts, Baziquetto-Allen was named the Citrus Conference Coach of the Year, her fourth straight honor and sixth Conference Coach of the Year award of her career.
The Bucs head into the postseason as both the #1 seed for the FCSAA State Tournament and the #1 team in the final NJCAA National Rankings.
FSW will open tournament play on Friday at home in Suncoast Credit Union Arena when they take on the winner of Friday morning's Eastern Florida/Polk State matchup in the tournament semifinals at 4 PM. The winner of that game punches their ticket to Saturday's Championship Match at 3 PM while the loser will play for 3rd place at Noon.