SCF Tennis Opens Season at Home

With 2019 put behind them, the SCF tennis team will open their 2020 spring season at home as they welcome Southeastern University (2-1) January 30 at 4:30 pm.

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 and at the Region 8 State Tournament. 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 (Broward College was the other). 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 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 State 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.

Head coach Chloe Murphy will look to mix in her four returners, Sara Ramirez-Goncalves, Britain "Brie" Botsford, Mackenzie Vraspir and Alexis Booker with five freshmen faces, Allie Beck, Karla Menendez, Olivia Sabo, Martina Shakhnazorova and Holly Sheeran-Hall. 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 Diarra Thomas. Botsford went as far as the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles at nationals.

Scouting Southeastern University:
The Lady Flames, who compete in the NAIA, finished last season 16-4 overall with a 5-2 record in the Sun Conference before falling in the conference quarterfinals to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). The Lady Flames went as high as #19 in the NAIA Coaches Poll.

The team is led by defending Sun Conference Co-Coach of the Year Drew Dickens, who enters his second season as head coach after being named interim head coach prior. Dickens also coaches the men's team.

The team lost two players that graduated, Nicole Backherms and Michelle Doan, but do have six returners on their team and three upcoming freshmen. The returners include senior Sharienne Ricardo and sophomore Beatrice Letizia. Both players were named on the Sun Conference Second Team. Additionally, Ricardo was named on the Sun Conference All-Academic and named an NAIA All-America Honorable Mention, while Letizia was named on the NAIA All-America Second Team.

This will be the second time both teams meet. Last Season, the Manatees defeated the Lady Flames 8-1 at home coincidentally on January 30.

How to Keep Up:
Fans can follow both teams on Twitter:
SCF: @TennisSCF
SEU: @SEUFireTennis