Bradenton, Fla - After much needed more time for preparations, the SCF Volleyball team (0-7, 0-6 Suncoast) still look for their first win of the season as they will head on the road for their next Suncoast Conference matchup. The Manatees will travel southwest to Fort Myers as they take on #1 Florida Southwestern State (12-2, 7-0 Suncoast) at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena Thursday night, September 30 at 6 pm.
Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of a 3-0 loss to #20 Daytona State College on the road. Originally, the Manatees were scheduled to face the Ave Maria University JV team Monday night, September 27, but that match was cancelled.
The match against Ave Maria was not the only match that was cancelled/postponed as the Manatees had to reschedule two conference matches against Polk State (9/18) and #15 Hillsborough (9/23) due to tracings of COVID-19 with Polk State and HCC.
Personal Opinion: Truthfully, I feel that next season the FCSAA should enforce a form of policy where if a team is unable to play for a conference matchup due to any tracings of COVID-19, then that should be considered as an automatic loss on their conference record and not be rescheduled. If both teams face the same scenario, then it would be considered a "no contest" and not rescheduled. It would realistically save so much time, money, effort and bother for the athletic directors, coaches and players and keep everything safe and sound.
Currently, conferences in the NCAA (ex. Big 12, A-SUN and ACC) have instated similar policies where if a team is unable to play due having an insufficient amount of players (depending on the sports team) due to COVID-19, then it is considered an automatic loss or a no contest for the game and will not be rescheduled.
Honestly, I don't know if colleges in the NJCAA or even the NAIA are enforcing policies like that, but if they are not, then they should really look into it to save all this trouble.
Freshman Anllel Caballero Fernandez and sophomore Jazmin Spencer lead the path on offense for the Manatees. Caballero Fernandez leads the way with 77 kills, 54 digs and 12 blocks (six solo), while Spencer follows with 70 kills, seven aces and 39 digs. Against Daytona State, Caballero had nine kills, nine digs and two blocks, while Spencer had six kills and two digs.
Defensively, aside from Caballero Fernandez, sophomore Adelene Jideofor leads the team with 13 blocks (eight solo) to go along with 28 kills, while classmate Giulia Rodrigues has 73 digs in her name. Jideofor had three blocks and three kills, while Rodrigues had four digs.
Scouting FSW:
The Buccaneers are currently ranked #1 in the nation in volleyball and are coming off of a 3-0 road win over Santa Fe this past Saturday, while riding a nine-match winning streak. They have been ranked #1 in the Top 20 in the nation for two straight weeks.
Sophomore Maria Petkova continues leading the path offensively as she leads with 172 kills, 20 aces, 155 digs and 20 blocks. Against Santa Fe, she had 15 kills, three aces and six digs.
Freshmen Barbara Koehler and Maria Cecilia follow on the offensive front with 118 and 116 kills respectively. Koehler also adds 16 aces and 23 blocks, while Cecilia adds 40 blocks. Koehler had four kills and three digs against Santa Fe, while Cecilia had two kills, two aces and a block.
On the setter side, the Buccaneers utilize a double setter rotation with sophomores Fiona Baker and Yunju Lee. Baker leads with 332 assists and 107 digs, while Lee has 179 assists and 83 digs. Both setters had a combined 23 assists and eight digs.
On the defensive side, freshmen Deborah Ribeiro, Julia Lawrenz and Arianna Rossi lead the path. Ribeiro and Lawrenz have a combined 126 total blocks (13 solo) with Ribeiro leading with 76 (seven solo). Ribeiro also adds 60 kills and 13 aces in her name, while Lawrenz adds 71 kills. Meanwhile Rossi, who was last week's NJCAA Region 8 Defensive Player of the Week, leads the way with 211 and 15 aces. Against Santa Fe, Ribeiro had four blocks, while Lawrenz had three kills and Rossi had 16 digs and an ace.
Series History:
The Manatees played FSW earlier in the season, losing by a score of 3-1 at home. Currently, they are 0-5 against the Buccaneers.
The match will air livestream on the FSW YouTube page.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRxbmQ7uIQc5aunOyGggyaQ