SCF Tennis: NJCAA National Tournament Preview

After long waiting, the #5 SCF tennis team (6-7) will return to the national picture as they compete in the NJCAA Tennis National Tournament in Tyler, Texas on May 2-5. The Manatees earned a spot as an at-large bid and will going to the national tournament for the first time since 2016.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees recently competed in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region Tournament in SanLando Park where they finished fifth overall, just shy of qualifying for an automatic bid, but were able to qualify as one of two teams for an at-large bid. The Manatees are the highest ranked team that did not earn an automatic bid. The other team that was an at-large bid was fellow conference member Broward College.

Individually, four Manatees are ranked among the top 50 players in the nation. Number one singles player, freshman Zeba Jamal (3-9) leads SCF and is ranked ninth. Her older sister, sophomore Sara (6-7), is ranked 12th and plays at number two singles. Sara Jamal's doubles partner, freshman Sara Ramirez-Goncalves (9-2) is ranked 28th, while classmate Bri Botsford (6-7) comes in ranked 42nd.

Meanwhile, sophomore Lauuren Illanes-Rodriguez is 7-5 in singles. At the end of the FCSAA NJCAA Region 4 Tournament, the native of Villahermosa, Tobasco, Mexico was named the 2019 Vicki Schnurr Scholar-Athlete. Illanes-Rodriguez was the only Manatee to win an award.

On the doubles side of things, two of SCF's doubles teams are ranked in the NJCAA/ITA top twenty-five. Sara Jamal and Ramirez Goncalves (5-8), who play at number one doubles, are ranked #7 in the nation. SCF's number two doubles team of Zeba Jamal and sophomore Camille Portallier (6-6) come in to the national tournament ranked #13 in the nation.

Teams Entered and Qualified:

#1 ASA Miami

^#2 Tyler

#3 Hillsborough

#4 St. Petersburg

#5 SCF*

#6 Cowley

#7 Broward*

#8 Seward County

#10 North Central Texas

#11 Collin

#12 Jones
#13 Barton

#14 Abraham Baldwin

#15 Mesa

#16 Laredo
#17 Copiah-Lincoln

#18 Meridian

#19 Iowa Central

#20 Wallace State
#21 Central Alabama

#22 New Mexico Military

#24 Harford

#25 Eastern Arizona
College of Lake County
Jacksonville
Lewis & Clark
Marion Military
Mercer County
Mississippi Gulf Coast
Moraine Valley
Pima
Snead State
*At-Large Bid
^Host and defending champion

Drawings:
Singles-
#6 seed: Zeba Jamal vs Clara Desbiolles (E. Ariz) 8:30 am: Flight 1 Singles (Sunday)

#7 seed: Sara Jamal vs Zoe Freke (Mercer County) 9:45 am: Flight 2 Singles (Sunday)

#6 seed: Britain Botsford vs Keely Mulcahy (Lake County) 12:15 pm: Flight 5 Singles (Sunday)

#4 seed: Sara Ramirez-Goncalves vs Copiah-Lincoln/New Mexico Military Institute winner: Flight 3 Singles (Monday)

#5 seed: Camille Portallier vs Meridian Community College/Harford Community College winner: Flight 4 Singles (Monday)

#4 seed: Lauren Illanes-Rodriguez vs ABAC/Wallace State winner: Flight 6 Singles (Monday)

Doubles-
Sara Jamal and Sara Ramirez-Goncalves vs Georgina Kaindoah and Takalani Molaoa (#7 seed) (Cowley College): Flight 1 Doubles (Sunday).

#5 seed: Zeba Jamal and Camille Portalier vs Snead State/SPC winner: Flight 2 Doubles (Monday).

Britain Botsford and Diarra Thomas vs Barton CC/Jones winner: Flight 3 Doubles (Monday).

The NJCAA National Tournament begins Sunday, May 5th in Tyler, Texas. The tournament draws and results can be followed on the tournament website. 

Also, @TennisSCF and @SCFManatees Twitter pages will share periodic updates.