Coming off a 3-2 game win Tuesday night, the Bucs put out another five-game nail biter Thursday against Jacksonville University with the scores of 30-23, 30-23, 24-30, 31-33 and 16-14. The Bucs are now 4-0 in the conference and 16-5 overall.
The team had four members lead the team with kills. Crystal Palmer had 15, Jennifer Sartor put in 19, Callie Kiselich put in 14 and Sarah Buhr had 17 kills. Kaena Apana had 33 digs on the night, some which saved the ball from being points for Jacksonville.
Nani Emerson had two kills. “It really is not surprising for me. I just put myself in a position to get to the ball. I’m small, so I usually get hit over. So to get my hands on the ball twice is awesome,” she said.
Coach Lindsey Devine was impressed with Emerson’s effort. “She just makes herself available to put the ball in play,” she said.
With another game on Saturday, the Bucs do not have time to dwell on the win. “We won tonight and we will celebrate, but we will move on tomorrow,” Devine said. “Saturday is another conference game and we will be ready.”
As they prepare for Saturday the one thing they need to do is play smarter. “I did not have my best game tonight. I will be more mentally ready and the team needs to work on service receiving for Saturday,” Kiselich said.
The Bucs did play smarter on Saturday as they beat the University of Northern Florida 30-28, 30-27, 27-30, 30-27. The Bucs had plenty of energy as they downed UNF in the first two games. But they started out with the lead in the third and lost it.
“We were in to deep of a hole after we lost our focus. But, thankfully our rally at the end of the third gave us momentum into the fourth game,” Devine said. “Our passing was excellent today. We looked a lot better than Thursday night.”
Emerson agreed, “We did an overall good job with passing, but the third game we lost our focus and let them come back.”
Sartor who had 16 kills in the game was impressed with the team’s effort. “Yes, we won because our passing was excellent. As far as that third game, it can make or break a team. You basically have to learn how to come back and win it in three or use momentum to shut them down in the fourth.”
In preparation for their next game they will need to work on the little things.
“Service receiving is always a top priority for us,” Devine said.
The Bucs will be on the road on Tuesday at NC A&T then at home on Saturday to play Kennesaw State.

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