Bradenton, Fla - it took a long while, but the SCF volleyball team (3-18, 1-6 Suncoast) split their tri-match at Hal Chasey Gymnasium losing match one to South Florida State College (6-3, 4-1 Sun Lakes) 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-15) before defeating Florida Gateway College (0-7, 0-4 Sun Lakes) 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-16). With the split, the Manatees are 11-3 against the Panthers and 3-0 against the Timberwolves.
“It was in hindsight,” said head coach Lynn Burnette. “Unfortunately, we didn’t play the match against Florida Gateway when we were supposed to in the beginning of the season. It’s matches like these that actually help infuse confidence into the players individually as well as a whole because you can run their plays well and can get into a rhythm and groove. It’s great to have as a prep for St. Pete next Tuesday before heading back on the road to face South Florida State.”
“Overall we’re pretty strong,” said sophomore Jazmin Spencer. “But it’s a matter of playing together and combining all of our strengths and I think that’s what helped us win the second match.”
“It felt really good today,” said sophomore Bailey Sikkema. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work over the season, so it’s nice to have a win, especially when it’s at home so we can defend it on our home turf. I think the girls fought for it, so it was well deserved.”
“The first match was tough and I couldn’t finish the sets,” said sophomore Lisa Jaunet. “But the second match, we decided to pick up the energy and start strong from the beginning and I think that helped us a lot really well.”
SCF vs SFSC:
Although the Manatees pulled ahead on the first two sets, including a strong first set, the Panthers were on the stronger side and were able to maintain the lead in all three sets.
Sophomores Lisa Jaunet lead the first match with 12 kills, six digs, one ace and one block. Classmate Bailey Sikkema followed with nine kills, two digs and a block.
Sophomore Gracee Carpino lead the way with 33 assists, one kill, eight digs and three aces.
Defensively, freshman Jennifer Rivera, who earned her first start of the season, finished with 15 digs and one kill.
Freshmen Adelene Jideofor (six kills, three digs and two blocks), Abby Hutchinson (one kill and two digs) and Jaydn Wallen (one kill and two digs), Spencer (two kills, one ace and three digs) and sophomore Leilani Wilcox-Nanai (two kills, nine digs and one ace) also contributed in the match.
SCF vs Gateway:
For match two, it was Jaunet and Sikkema that lead the way with 15 and 14 kills respectively. Jaunet added a career-high eight aces, eight digs and one assist, while Sikkema added five digs. Jaunet finished with 27 kills in both matches.
“I had the mentality to go out there to play my game and play hard,” said Sikkema on her game. “I just killed it in every opportunity that I had and my goal is just not let the other team touch the balls when I hit them. In the end, I finished strong.”
“I was glad because in the first match my hitting was on-point, but my passing was not,” said Jaunet on her game. “My goal was mostly to pick that up in the second match, which I did and my goal was overall to have a great game and have fun and I’m glad we all had fun playing.”
Carpino finished with 29 assists, two aces and six digs.
Rivera finished with 11 digs, one kill and four assists in the second match and finished with 26 digs, two kills and four assists combined in both matches.
“I’m so proud of Jenn,” said Burnette on Rivera. “All season long, even during the fall, she was always going in for one of our outside hitters defensively and was playing middle back. Today was the first time she played in a match as the libero in that position and she did a phenomenal job. Very proud of her passing, running up the defense overall, not that I would’ve expected anything less. We’re super proud of her and her performance today.”
Spencer (five kills, two aces, five digs and one block), Jideofor (three kills, four digs and two blocks), Hutchinson (three kills and one dig) and freshman Kaylee Forman (six assists and one ace) all contributed for the home match win.
Up Next:
The Manatees remain at Hal Chasey Gymnasium to resume conference play on spring break as they welcome St. Pete College (0-8, 0-7 Suncoast) Tuesday night, March 9 at 6 pm.
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