August 22, 2025
Bucs Open Title Defense With a Bang
The #1 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers opened their 2025 season with a bang on Friday, sweeping Southern Idaho and #5 Utah State Eastern at the Battle at the Beach to start 2-0 for the fifth consecutive season.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers opened their 2025 season with a bang on Friday, sweeping Southern Idaho and #5 Utah State Eastern at the Battle at the Beach to start 2-0 for the fifth consecutive season.
The Bucs first matchup of the day came in a battle of the last two NJCAA squads to win three consecutive National Championships as they took on the Golden Eagles of Southern Idaho. FSW played from behind early on in their opener against Southern Idaho but bounced back to even things midway through the period before back to back kills from Aleksandra Lucic and Irina Makinen gave the Bucs their largest lead of the first at 18-15 and forced a Golden Eagle timeout. The set continued to go back and forth as CSI tied the scored back up at 20, but the Bucs stormed to the finish line, outlasting the Golden Eagles 25-22 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second had a different script as FSW got out to an early lead, getting a kill from Magi Milicevic and an ace from Giovanna Rocha to take a 9-3 lead on CSI. The Bucs opened things up midway through the set as a crosscourt rocket from Sara Gamboa made it 15-7 and the cushion was much needed for FSW as CSI outscored the Bucs 13-6 over the next 19 points to climb back to within one at 21-20. Makinen remained aggressive on the second ball and picked up her third kill of the set to break the CSI momentum before FSW sealed up the set on a serve into the net by the Golden Eagles to take it 25-23 and go ahead 2-0 in the match.
It was another strong start for the Bucs in the third as a run at the service line from Milicevic gave FSW an 8-4 advantage. The teams traded points to the middle of the set when CSI put together a mini run to cut the Bucs advantage to 18-17 later in the period. With the finish line in sight the Bucs went to their veterans as Rocha put them on top 23-19 before Aleksandra Lucic and Sara Gamboa closed things out with kills to give FSW the third 25-20 to complete the 3-0 sweep.
FSW finished the match with 43 kills as a team as Rocha set a new career high with 15 while Gamboa added 12. Makinen also set a new career high with 33 assists while also setting a career best mark with 4 kills. Libero Sarah Webb joined the career high party with 17 digs to blow past her previous best mark while Lucic led the Bucs front line with 5 blocks in her first match in the Purple and Aqua.
The Bucs second match of the day was a rematch of the 2024 NJCAA National Tournament Quarterfinal between the Bucs and #5 Utah State Eastern.
It was back and forth early on in the first as the teams split the first 16 points of the match before a 4-0 run by the Bucs with Lucic at the service line gave FSW a 12-8 lead. Four straight from the Eagles tied the score at 12 before another Buccaneer run put FSW back in front 19-14. A kill from Rocha followed by back to back aces from the sophomore at the service line made it 22-17 FSW and a bullet from Gamboa finished things off as the Bucs took the first 25-20 to take an early 1-0 lead.
The second was close early on, but a 6-0 run for the Bucs midway through the set gave them a 15-7 lead. The Bucs took a 10 point lead on a kill from Milicevic off the block and FSW put it in cruise control from there, finishing things off with an ace from Brookelyn Savoya to win it 25-10 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
USU showed some life in the third, getting out to a 6-3 early lead, but back to back kills from Gamboa leveled things up at 9 and a big block from Rocha and Valentina Zevallos moments later had the Bucs on top 15-12. The Eagles weren't ready to go down without a fight, retaking a 23-22 late in the set on an ace, but the Bucs were ready to put day one in the books, getting a kill from Gamboa to tie things back up, an ace from the sophomore to give them match point, and a USU attack long to seal it up as they took the third 25-23 to sweep the Top 5 matchup with the Eagles.
Gamboa led the Bucs with 14 kills in the win, hitting .312 on the pin while Rocha notched double digit kills in back to back matches for the first time in her career with a dozen. Makinen dished out 33 assists for the second straight match while Webb once again led FSW with 14 digs.
The Bucs begin the season 2-0 for the fifth straight year and have now won 14 straight matches in the Battle at the Beach dating back to the 2021 season.
FSW continues a busy opening weekend on Saturday as they wrap up the Battle at the Beach with dates against Snow and #10 Trinity Valley at 11:30 AM and 4:30 PM at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.