SCF Tennis Opens Strong for Day One of Nationals

The #5 SCF tennis team wrapped up day one of the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Tyler, Texas in successful fashion as they pulled away with three singles and a doubles win Sunday morning. At the end of day one, the Manatees have 10 points and are tied for ninth place with Cowley College, St. Pete and Wallace State.

In the first singles match, freshman Zeba Jamal (#6 seed) secured the first match for SCF as she defeated sophomore Clara Desbiolles (Eastern Arizona College) 6-1, 6-4 at Flight 1 singles. She will face freshman Soo-min Kim (ASA Miami) Monday 9:30 am EST/8:30 am CST. Kim defeated sophomore Syvoney Ybarra (Jacksonville CC) with a 6-0 pair decision.

Following her younger sister, sophomore Sara Jamal (#7 seed) would defeat freshman Zoe Freke  (Mercer County CC) 6-4, 6-1 at Flight 2 singles. She will face freshman Mariane Lima (Barton CC), who defeated sophomore Jasmine Abunaim (Moraine Valley CC) 6-0, 6-1. The match will start Monday 9:30 am EST/8:30 am CST.

At the Flight 5 singles, freshman Britain Botsford (#6 seed) defeated freshman Keely Mulcahy (College of Lake County) with a 6-0 pair decision. Botsford will play Tiffany Weech (Eastern Arizona) who freshman Alisa Handrugan (Seward County CC) via retire. Botsford and Weech will play Monday at noon EST/11 am CST.

In the Flight 1 doubles, Sara Jamal and freshman Sara Ramirez-Goncalves upset #7 seed freshmen duo of Georgina Kaindoah and Takalani Molaoa (Cowley College) by a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Sara Jamal and Ramirez-Goncalves will face the sophomore duo of Chantal Lozano and Kely de Souza Oliveira (Laredo CC) after they defeated Abunaim and freshman Brooke Zielke (Moraine Valley CC) by a score of 6-1, 6-2. That match will take place at 1:15 pm EST/12:15 CST.

Up Next:
Day two of the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament will go underway Monday morning.

For singles play for SCF, Ramirez-Goncalves, the #4 seed that received a first round bye, will face sophomore Katy Clark (Copiah-Lincoln). Clark defeated freshman Venus Ubiebi (New Mexico Military Institute) 6-0, 6-2 at Flight 3 singles at 10:45 EST/9:45 CST.

Sophomore Camille Portalier, who drew the #5 seed at Flight 4 singles and also received a first round bye, will face freshman Rachel VanHorn (Meridian). VanHorn defeated sophomore Sofia Samra (Harford CC) by a score of 6-2, 6-1 at 10:45 EST/9:45 CST.

Sophomore Lauren Illanes-Rodriguez, who drew the #4 seed at Flight 6 singles and received a first round bye, will face freshman Kasey Griffin (Abraham Baldwin), who defeated freshman Kallie Upchurch (Wallace State) 7-5, 6-1 Monday at noon EST/11 am CST. .

As for doubles, Zeba Jamal and Portalier (#5 seed) received a first round bye at Fight 2 doubles and will play sophomore Barbara Damiani and freshman Karla Ortega (St. Pete College). Damiani and Ortega defeated sophomores Jessie Griffith and Macklyn Hubbard (Snead State) by a score of 6-0, 6-1 1:15 pm EST/12:15 CST.

Botsford and sophomore Diarra Thomas, who also received a first round bye at Flight 3 doubles, will play the freshman duo of Judith Mills and Danielle Viljoen (Jones College), who defeated freshman duo of Gabrielle Herzog and Sara Martin (Barton) by a score of 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-0 at 2:30 pm EST/1:30 CST.

Day One Standings:
1. Collin (18)
2. Laredo (14)
North Central Texas (14)
4. Abraham Baldwin (12)
Barton CC (12)
Copiah-Lincoln (12)
Meridian (12)
Mesa (12)
9. Cowley (10)
SCF (10)
SPC (10)
Wallace State (10)
13. Broward (8)
14. HCC (6)
New Mexico Militarty (6)
Snead State (6)
17. ASA Miami (4)
Central Alabama (4)
Lake County (4)
Pima (4)
Seward County (4)
Tyler (4)
25. Eastern Arizona (2)
Harford (2)
Jones (2)
Marion Military (2)
Mercer County (0)
Mississippi Gulf Coast (0)
Moraine Valley (0)