“Overall it was a great team performance, especially given the circumstances,” said head coach Chloe Murphy. “For most of these girls, they haven’t had a chance to compete in 10 months and it felt great to be back out there. I’m proud of the ladies for sticking together as a team to get the job done.”
“It feels great to get the first win under our belts and for it to be at home feels even better. Obviously having fans able to attend is what we want. After waiting 10 months we’re just thrilled to be able to compete. We hope we can provide a safe environment for our players, staff and spectators to have our fans come back.”
“As a team, I think this was a good start to the season,” said redshirt freshman Karla Menendez. “This was the first match in almost a year for all the returners; this was the freshmen first college match. The team demonstrated good energy on all courts throughout doubles and singles.”
Starting off with doubles, the Manatees did would open the door with Menendez and freshman Lou Bonet De Freitas winning their match against the sophomore duo of Beatrice Letizia and Priscila Baptista at No. 1 doubles winning by a score of 6-4. The freshman duo of Sarah Forsyth and Kia Caravalho-Landell would fall to fellow freshmen duo of Nadeza Bijelic and Abigail Damon by a score of 4-6 at No. 2 doubles, but freshman Luna Mouton and redshirt freshman Mackenzie Vraspir would keep the Manatees ahead as they won at No. 3 doubles by a score of 7-5 over freshman Kishaundah Romain and junior Gabby Marshall before singles play.
“It was great to watch these ladies compete for the first time as Manatees,” said Murphy on the freshmen debuts.
Heading into singles, with the Manatees ahead 2-1, Menendez would take the first singles match at No. 2 as she defeated Bijelic via retire despite being up 5-1 to extend the lead to 3-1.
“Karla did a great job today where she picked up wins at #1 doubles and #2 singles, said Murphy on Menendez. “She was very composed out there tonight and did the simple things excellently that picked up two wins to start her Spring ‘21 campaign.”
“During singles, it was tough on all courts,” said Menedez on singles play. “Some players had to fight their way back and was able to turn the match around to their favor. Even for those that lost, I was able to see them fight for the match till the very last point.”
The Lady Flames would tie the score at 3-3 after Vraspir would fall to sophomore Mia Duncan 0-6, 2-6 at No. 6 singles before Bonet De Freitas fell to Letizia at No. 2 singles until a determined Forsyth pulled off her first collegiate win over Marshall with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 decision at No. 4 singles to give the Manatees the lead again.
In the end, it was Carvalho-Landell who was the hero of the match as she fought for a three-set win over Baptista by a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the game-winner. Mouton would fall in the final match at No. 5 singles to Damon by a score of 3-6, 7-5, 2-6.
Notes:
This was the debuts for Bonet De Freitas, Mouton, Forsyth and Carvalho-Landell.
The Manatees were the first team to open the 2021 season.
Up Next:
The Manatees will open Region 8 Conference play as they are on the road facing first Eastern Florida State in Melbourne (2/12) before traveling to Tampa to take on Hillsborough.
“We are expecting a tough match,” said Murphy on EFSC, but are excited to face the challenge.”
Side Note: This was the first postgame interview with Menendez.
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