Baziquetto-Allen earns NJCAA DI Volleyball Coach of the Year
Charlotte, NC – Florida SouthWestern head coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen has been named the 2022 NJCAA Division I Volleyball Coach of the Year.
Baziquetto-Allen earns her first ever NJCAA Coach of the Year honors after wrapping up her fourth season with the Buccaneers.
In her four seasons as head coach with FSW, Baziquetto-Allen has an overall record of 88-23 and a conference record of 41-3, with only one of those losses coming from the entire 2022-23 season alone. In only her second year of being the head coach, she led Florida SouthWestern State to their first ever National Championship Tournament where they finished in 8th place. That same season, two of Baziquetto-Allen's players became the first All-America athletes in Florida SouthWestern volleyball program history. She followed up the next year with yet another appearance in the National Championship tournament where they finished in 5th place.
Despite her respectable success in her first three seasons as head coach at Florida SouthWestern, Baziquetto-Allen's most impressive is the 2022-23 season, where Florida SouthWestern won the 2022 NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship title. The Buccaneers held on to their No. 1 seed and finished out at the top and undefeated in the national tournament after defeating No. 6 Miami Dade (FL) 3-1 by scores of 25-16, 12-25, 25-20, 25-16. Florida SouthWestern ended the season in West Plains, MO with a 27-1 record and a 12-game winning streak. This was Florida SouthWestern's first National Championship title in school history.
Setter Roberta Purashaj, outside hitter Alondra Alarcon, and outside hitter Barbara Koehler were the three Buccaneers named to the 2022 DI Volleyball National Championship All-Tournament team. In the championship game, Purashaj had 34 assists, 11 digs, and 3 service aces. Alarcon had 10 kills, 8 digs, and 6 service aces. Koehler had 12 kills, 15 digs, and 14.5 points. Koehler was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 2022 DI Volleyball Championship.
Setter Roberta Purashaj and Outside Hitter Barbara Koehler were also both placed on the 2022 NJCAA DI Volleyball All-America list. Purashaj finished the season with 874 assists, 24 service aces, 215 digs and 72.5 points. Koehler finished the season with 314 kills, 45 service aces, 225 digs and 384 points.
Athletic Director George Sanders on Thais Baziquetto-Allen- "We are very fortunate to have Thais leading our program. Not only is she one of the most prepared coaches I have ever been around, she is a tremendous role model for our student-athletes. Having walked in their shoes, coming to the United States to play in the NJCAA, earning a four year scholarship and degree, and now serving as a coach of an NJCAA program, she embodies what we want from, and for our students. We thought we hit it out of the park with her hire before the 2019 season, and she has continually proved that true for our College and Department for the past four years. I am proud to be her boss, a term she uses to refer to me, but am more proud to be her friend and a small part of her team."
Assistant Coach Megan Besecker on Thais Baziquetto-Allen- "Thais is the best leader, coach, and mentor that I know. She genuinely cares about each and every one of her athletes and will do anything for them on and off the court; as evidence from her turning into a three meal per day chef for them while we were forced on the road for 16 days this year by Hurricane Ian midway through the season. She works tirelessly to make sure that our team is always prepared and gives them all the tools to be successful."
