FSW's nationally-ranked volleyball team bounced around Florida for 2 weeks after Hurricane Ian

Florida SouthWestern allowed students to return to their dorms on Wednesday, two weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall. The closure affected many facets of student life, and Buccaneers student-athletes are no exception.

The FSW volleyball team, the only Bucs sport in season, became nomads after the campus closed on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

The Bucs entered the week of Sept. 25 with 32-straight conference wins and ranked the No. 1 junior college program in the nation. They evacuated as a team and spent the next two weeks wandering cities and gyms to keep their season going.

“They were worried about, you know, their dorms are their homes and Fort Myers is their community,” said head volleyball coach Thais Allen. “So they were worried about what was going on there. And then after everything happened we wanted to return and help.”

In total, the volleyball team traveled to five cities across the state. Its first stop was South Miami where they were met with tornado warnings as they tried to practice at St. Thomas University.

As the weather cleared, the team traveled to North Miami and practiced at Miami-Dade College before heading to Gainesville to play Santa Fe Community College on Thursday, Oct. 6. They won in straight sets that night.

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They moved on to Daytona Friday to play then-No. 17 ranked Daytona State on Saturday where they lost their first game of the season 3-1, falling to 15-1 for the season and to No. 2 in the nation in this week's poll.

On Sunday morning, the Bucs headed to Tampa to continue to practice until FSW reopened its dorms on Wednesday. They quickly returned to the road Thursday, going to Indian River where the Bucs rebounded from their first loss of the 2022 campaign for a 3-0 sweep to improve to 16-1.

“It’s a relief,” said redshirt freshman Emily Fleckenstein of returning to campus. “It’s very exciting. And on that, it’s going to be sad to go home and see the aftermath in person with our own eyes. But I think we are very hopeful to go be able to be there, be present, and help out in any way we can.”

They were able to take advantage of the extended road trip in unique ways, like stopping at teammate and Ormond Beach native Kate Roth's family farm.

“They were able to take us out there, we had barbeque by the lake and just took the ATV around,” Allen said. “I think that was a peaceful time in a time of turmoil".

“We had both sides of just balancing, you know, just being aware and worried about what was going on in Fort Myers and be sensitive about that. At the same time, stay focused on practice, playing, and knowing that we were the team that was most affected, as far as our conference and things like that. We just talk about being more resilient and keep focus on the work that we need to put in.”

The volleyball squad has grown closer during the unusual set of circumstances.

“The girls on the team have been an absolute highlight, just being able to spend all this time with them,” Fleckenstein said. “Some could see it from an outside view as too much time, but with these girls, it can never be too much time.”

The men’s basketball team, which has started preseason practice, also evacuated east to Fort Lauderdale. From there, head coach Eric Murphy let his team go home to reset for a few days before reconvening in Tampa to begin practice at USF on Sunday.

“The season’s approaching, and we’re just happy to be back on the floor,” Murphy said. “Trying to get everybody together and trying to keep everybody safe, that was, I will say, a little bit stressful.”

The Bucs officially begin on Oct. 26 when they are scheduled to host Nova Southeastern.

“The main talk is just, that we’re blessed that we’re safe,” Murphy said. “Don’t take this for granted and play every second that you get to play. Whatever scrimmages, practice, or games, play as hard as you can because it can be taken away.”

For those coaches and student-athletes who have long called Southwest Florida home, leaving was especially hard as they struggled to watch the damage from afar.

“It was very stressful, really,” said sophomore guard and Fort Myers native Jadrian Tracy. “Especially when they didn’t have any connection or cell service and I couldn’t reach them. It was just very, very stressful, really.”

Softball head coach Robert Iamurri, who has been a staple in Southwest Florida for decades from his time as Naples' softball coach before taking over at FSW, evacuated his non-local players to Miami on Tuesday before Ian hit. He says watching the storm creep its way across his home wasn’t easy.

“You know, you’re watching TV and you realize it, wow!” Iamurri said. “And then you look at that Fort Myers Beach camera, and then it really hits you. When you see the eye passing over, you see Cypress Lake and that’s our campus. It took a toll on a lot of people.”

The coaches and athletes are trying to keep their focus despite their classes going virtual only until January and their campus still being used as a disaster response staging area. FSW's volleyball team does not expect to have another home match at Suncoast Credit Union Arena this season but will have a small window to practice starting Monday around the emergency workers' schedules, as will the Bucs' basketball teams.

“It’s definitely very challenging, but it comes down to how much you love it,” Tracy said. “How much of a priority is it too, because even though I’ve had to work and help my family out, get back right you know what I mean, I’ve also had to sacrifice to go workout and stay on top of my game too.”

The Bucs returned to a much different from the one they left as debris remains piled, restaurants are closed and work crews abound, but they said they're ready to be part of the solution.

“I think a frustration has definitely been not being able to go back and be with our community, and not being able to go back on campus,” Fleckenstein said. “It’s been hard, but I know most of us are very thankful that we’re able to go back and start volunteering in any way we can.”

“Our timeline hasn’t changed,” Iamurri said. “Our priorities on how we can be a better person have changed.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: FSW volleyball, basketball return to Fort Myers after Hurricane Ian