SCF VB Closes Final Home Match vs Monroe

The SCF volleyball team (2-19) will close out their final home match at Hal Chasey Gymnasium as they welcome Monroe College (16-8) Friday night, October 18 at 6 pm. Originally the two teams were scheduled to face each other in the Daytona State Invitational (Sept. 6-7), but Monroe withdrew from it.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees closed out Suncoast Conference play as they fell 3-0 to Florida Southwestern in Ft. Myers and end Suncoast play at 0-6.

Sophomore Soundoff:
The final home match will be dubbed as sophomore night for five sophomores: Sydney Jaco, Hannah Strickland, Lakeesha Esseboom, Daviya Bernard and Barbora Tichackova.

Classmate Emily Sauceda will be redshirting after sitting this season due to injury and will have one year of eligibility remaining with the Manatees.

Sydney Jaco:
A local product from Braden River High, following the footsteps of her older sister Brittany, Jaco currently leads the team with 394 digs.

As a freshman at SCF, Jaco had 784 digs which was not only the most on the team, the Suncoast and the state, but were second in the nation. Jaco's 7.06 digs per set was ranked #1 in the nation. As a result, she was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team, Suncoast All-Academic Team and FCSAA All-Academic Team as well as a four time FCSAA Defensive Player of the Week, one time NJCAA Defensive Player of the Week and a member of the FCSAA 25 Dig Club 16 times.

On her resume this season, Jaco has been named on the FCSAA 25 Dig Club four times and was named FCSAA Defensive Player of the Week last week.

Meanwhile as far as her digs, Jaco has 1,178 career digs. She earned her 1,000th career dig in the win over Webber International JV (NAIA).

Hannah Strickland:
A native of Crawford, Florida, Strickland currently has 71 digs and 52 assists in her name.

Prior to SCF, Strickland played at Wakulla High School where she helped lead the War Eagles to the FHSAA 6A Regional Quarterfinals

As a defensive specialist her freshman year, Strickland had 263 digs in her name as well as 26 aces.

Lakeesha Esseboom:
Hailing from Paramaribo, Suriname, Esseboom leads the team with 133 kills and is third on the team in blocks (28).

Esseboom was named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team last season while totaling 179 kills and 36 blocks.

Prior to SCF, Esseboom was placed among the top-23 in the National Surinamese Junior Mathematics Olympiad.

Daviya Bernard:
Bernard, a native of Miami Gardens, Florida, played in 21 matches where she had 47 kills and 11 blocks as a freshman.

Prior to SCF, Bernard played for Everglades High School where she won numerous awards, including the NCAA MVP award while leading the Gators to the FHSAA 9A Regional Quarterfinals.

Currently, Bernard has played profoundly both offensively and defensively as she is fourth on the team with 88 kills and 30 blocks.

Barbora Tichackova:
Hailing from Liberec, Czech Republic, Tichackova played a big part as a middle blocker for the Manatees.

Prior to SCF, Tichackova was a member of Podjestedske Gynazium (2015-17) where she led the team to finish first in the region (2015) and second place in the Czech National tournament (2017)

As a freshman at SCF, Tichackova had 159 kills and 79 blocks (15 solo) while being named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

Currently, Tichackova has 68 kills in her name while leading the team with 58 blocks (17 solo) and aces (23).

Key Players:
Offensively, aside from Esseboom, freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai also remains as a main offensive leader. Wilcox-Nanai is second on the team with 131 kills and 174 digs.

Freshman Gracee Carpino leads the team with 486 assists and 22 aces (second on the team).

Another hybrid player in similar fashion to Bernard is freshman Lisa Jaunet. Jaunet is current third on the team in kills (90) and 28 blocks.

Freshman Brooke Henry follows Jaco and Wilcox-Nanai in digs (135), while classmate Jazmin Spencer, a wild card on the team, has 48 kills and 13 blocks.

Scouting Monroe College:
Monroe College is located in New Rochelle, New York and is a member of the Mid Hudson Conference (NJCAA Region XV). They are led by head coach Nephtali Delgado Reyes who enters his ninth season as head coach for the Mustangs.

In their last matchup, the Mustangs played Montgomery County Community College on the road in Blue Bell, PA. where they won 3-0.

Offensively, sophomore Julia La Longa leads the Mustangs with 212 kills and is second with 40 blocks (five solo). Against Montgomery County, the Italian had 10 kills and four digs.

Freshmen Alondra Ramos and Zassmine Birdwell also play big roles offensively as well as defensively. Ramos is second on the team with 137 kills and 126 digs, while Birdwell is third on the team with 120 kills and leads the team with 46 blocks (eight solo). Against Montgomery County, Ramos had five kills and three digs while Birdwell had two kills and a block.

A possible double setter rotation, the Mustangs will likely utilize Yarianne Gonzalez and Alondra Garcia as both freshmen have over 300 assists (Gonzalez: 377; Garcia: 328) and over 40 aces (Gonzalez: 47; Garcia: 42). In the match against Montgomery County, Gonzalez had 17 assists and four aces while Garcia had 12 assists and three aces.

Aside from Birdwell's blocking, freshman Melanie Orsini leads the Mustangs with 401 digs as well as 58 aces. Orsini had four aces and four digs.

This will be the second time both teams meet. The first time was on September 13, 2013 where the Mustangs won 3-2 at the Pasco-Hernando State College Tournament (formerly known as the Pasco-Hernando CC).

How to Keep Up:
The match will air livestream on the SCF Sports Network and fans can keep up with both teams on Twitter:
SCF- @SCFVolleyball
Monroe- @Monroe_Mustangs

Livestream Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/