Last Time Out:
The Manatees finished last season 6-7 overall with a 4-6 record in Region 8. They would end up finishing fourth in the standings. Despite not winning the NJCAA Region 8 Tennis Tournament, the Manatees were able to qualify for the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Tyler, Texas as one of two teams with an at-large bid. In fact, the Manatees were actually ranked #5 in the NJCAA National Polls. At nationals, the Manatees finished tied for fifth place with Cowley College out of 32 teams, winning one consolation doubles tournament.
The Manatees are led by current head coach Chloe Murphy, who enters her third year as head coach.
In with the New, Out with the Old:
The team lost five players, Sara and Zeba Jamal, Diarra Thomas, Camille "Cami" Portalier and Laura Illanes-Rodriguez as they have all transferred to different universities. Sara Jamal (Jacksonville University), Thomas (Coppin State), Portalier (NCAA DII: West Georgia) and Illanes-Rodriguez (USC Upstate) have all transferred as juniors, while Zeba Jamal (Presbyterian College) was the only freshman that transferred as a sophomore. Furthermore, Illanes-Rodriguez was the only player on the team to win an award for SCF as she claimed the Vicki Schnurr Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
For this season, there are four returners, Sara Ramirez-Goncalves, Britain "Brie" Botsford, Mackenzie Vraspir and Alexis Booker. Vraspir and Booker redshirted last season with Vraspir playing in exhibition matches, while Ramirez-Goncalves and Botsford were the lone returners that played last season.
Ramirez-Goncalves finished last season 13-4 in singles and 9-10 in doubles primarily teaming with Sara Jamal. The native of Cancun, Mexico played at #3 singles and went as far as the semifinals in the national tournament.
Botsford finished 8-10 at #5 singles and 10-8 at #3 doubles pairing primarily with Thomas. Botsford went as far as the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles at nationals.
Murphy was also able to land five true freshmen: Allie Beck, Karla Menendez, Olivia Sabo, Martina Shakhnazorova and Holly Sheeran-Hall.
The Manatees will have their opening match in January as they have their home opener against NAIA Southeastern University (1/30) to start the season.
After a home scrimmage against Rollins College (NCAA DII), they will then have their first road match against the University of Tampa (NCAA DII) (2/6).
The Manatees will then play back-to-back home matches opening Region 8 Conference play against the defending Region 8 Regular Season Champions in ASA Miami for their conference opener before facing USCAA Florida National (2/13).
The Manatees will then have three straight road matches for conference play against St. Pete College (2/19), Hillsborough (2/21) and Eastern Florida State (2/28).
After a home scrimmage against Rollins College (NCAA DII), they will then have their first road match against the University of Tampa (NCAA DII) (2/6).
The Manatees will then play back-to-back home matches opening Region 8 Conference play against the defending Region 8 Regular Season Champions in ASA Miami for their conference opener before facing USCAA Florida National (2/13).
The Manatees will then have three straight road matches for conference play against St. Pete College (2/19), Hillsborough (2/21) and Eastern Florida State (2/28).
March 27 will be the last home matchup against Eastern Florida State and will be dubbed as sophomore day for Ramirez-Goncalves and Botsford before their season finale on the road against Broward College. From there, the Manatees will travel to Sanlando for the NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament (4/17-19) before trying to Tucson, Arizona for the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament (5/3-8).
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