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Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (4-5) put together a strong third set, but it was not enough as they fell to #12 DI Hillsborough (7-2) 3-1 (17-25, 14-25, 25-19, 11-25). The Manatees are now 5-21 against the Hawks.
"This was important for us because we needed to see how well our offense we built so far was going to work and how effective it was going to be against the top talent in the country," said head coach Lynn Burnett. "When our passes our on, our offense is pretty solid and unstoppable and that's what we needed to see. It also helped us to see the sections of offense we need to bring to the table. They ran very well and it was good for our team to be able to see it and defend against it. They're starting to learn how to read the platforms and passers before they make contact on the ball so they can get a jumpstart to get ready on defense and it was really important for them to see these things tonight and they did well with it."
"We got every ball that we could, we talked and played our hardest in this match with all our hearts," said sophomore Shelby McGee.
"I think, especially in the third set, we kept our energy up, communicated very well and passed the ball consistently," said freshman Caelen Cook. "That's always the biggest thing that coach Lynn (Burnett) tells us. She tells us that the best way to win a match is aggressive serving and consistent passing is what will help us. Even when we didn't do so well in the other sets, we kept fighting for every point."
"I think the team did great out there," said freshman Shelby Pillow. "They hardly let a ball hit the floor and were very aggressive. We were all trying our best. Yes, HCC is the number 12 team in the nation, but I think the next time we play them, we will for sure have improved by then and tweak up the little things we can work on and we'll be ready to beat them next time."
While the Manatees put valiant effort into the first set by taking a 9-4 lead, the Hawks would take control of the Manatees' mistakes on offense to claim the first set. The Hawks would then secure the second on a kill.
The Manatees however would not go down without a fight as they took the third set thanks to a kill by freshman Isabella Rebimbas, but the shining opportunity ended as the Hawks took the final set.
It was sophomore Lana Sandanom that lead the Manatees' offense as she finished with 11 kills and two blocks. Cook would follow with eight kills and four digs, while Pillow rounded out the order with four kills, one dig and one block.
"I think there's a favor for improvement and I need to work on it in practice," said Cook. "But I thought I did well."
"Caelen has a unique style of her own when it comes to her power," said Burnett on Cook. "She can blast her way to more than a couple of blocks just like tonight and she found that floor at the line on the hard cross, which is exactly what we asked her to do and she did it very well."
Freshman Kendall Steinert lead the way in passing as she finished with 28 assists, one ace, three kills and five digs. On the service line, sophomore Lison Stoffel had three aces to go along with three digs and one assist.
Defensively, Rebimbas lead the way with 17 digs to go along with five kills, while McGee followed with 14 digs and two assists.
"I think I played very well," said McGee on her game. "There were some mistakes I made, but I thought I did well."
Sophomore Kat McCall (one ace) and freshmen Haylee Rhoads (four kills, one assist, one block and two digs), Rachel Carroll (one ace and one dig) and Kloe Pinto (one dig) also contributed in the match.
Notes:
This was the home opener for the Manatees.
"Sure, it would be really nice to win the home opener, but things happen the way they happen, especially with schedules," said Burnett. "But we always look to see that it happened for a reason and it was meant to be like that."
"I wasn't very nervous about it, being as I'm a sophomore and it's not the first time I played in our home opener," said McGee.
Freshman Bailey Perry returned to the rotation after suffering an injury during the NJCAA Opening Weekend Tournament in Rockford, Illinois.
Other Sun-Lakes Scores:
North Division -
Pensacola State College (4-2) defeated Coastal Alabama - East 3-1 on the road.
Pasco-Hernando State (3-5) swept Trinity College of Florida 3-0 at home. The Bobcats will face Hillsborough at home Wednesday night, August 31 at 6 pm.
Up Next:
The Manatees will play in their conference opener on the weekend as they first will travel to Panama to take on #18 Gulf Coast State College (5-0, 1-0 Sun-Lakes South) Friday night, September 2 at 6 pm before traveling two and a half hours west to Pensacola to take on Pensacola State College Saturday afternoon, September 3 at 1 pm (12 pm central).
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