Rockford, Illinois - The SCF volleyball team (0-2) were pushed to their limit on the first day of the NJCAA Opening Weekend Tournament in Rockford, Illinois, but ultimately they fell to Moraine Valley CC (1-1) (20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 13-15) and #16 Hawkeye CC (2-0) (16-25, 16-25, 26-24 25-18, 7-15) both by a score of 3-2.
"The girls were ready and they were pumped when they stepped on the court and every single set that they played held their own," said head coach Lynn Burnett. "We belong here and we belong among them at the end of the season, even in the midst of the setbacks and challenges that we endured with these teams from a four to five hour drive while we flew and didn't get any sleep the night before, so it was traveling all day to literally step on to the court before the match, warmup and compete and they did incredible."
Prior to their first match, the Manatees literally left Bradenton at 3:30 am to get to Rockford. As noted, they were the only team from Florida that competed in the tournament.
SCF vs Moraine Valley CC:
The first set turned out to be a dog-fight as both teams exchanged leads, but the Lady Cyclones would take the first set 25-20.
Not wanting last season to haunt them, the Manatees played scrappy in the second set and continued fighting as freshman Rhea Kohl would seal it with a kill towards the left back-row. It would also be a scary moment for the Manatees as freshman Bailey Perry would leave the game due to an ankle injury.
After the Lady Cyclones took the third set, Kohl would seal the fourth set with another kill to force a fifth.
In the middle of the fifth set, Kohl would sustain an injury to her shoulder and would leave the game. Despite the tremendous effort, the Manatees would fall on a final Lady Cyclone kill.
Three Manatees would finish with double-digit kills and three would secure their first collegiate double-doubles. It was Kohl and freshman Caelen Cook that would lead the offense with 13 kills each for their double-doubles. Kohl added 14 digs and two blocks before her injury, while Cook added 10 digs and a block. Freshman Haley Rhoads rounded out the order with 11 kills, one dig, one assist and one block.
Freshman Kendall Steinert earned her first collegiate double-double with 44 assists and 15 digs to go along with three kills and one ace.
Defensively, aside from Rhoads' defense, sophomore Shelby McGee and freshman Shelby Pillow lead the way. McGee finished with career-high 29 digs, three assists and one killl, while Pillow had two blocks to go with seven kills and two assists. Freshman Bella Rebimbas also added 17 digs to go along with two kills and two assists.
Perry (three kills, one assist and three digs) and sophomore Lana Sandanom (three kills and two digs) also contributed in the match.
"Losing two of our outsider hitters (Perry and Kohl) and not having Amee (Beedle) with us was tough," said Burnett. "Most of the team was in tears and was like 'ok, the next up has to step in and make this happen. Lana (Sandanom), Caelen (Cook) and Bella (Rebimbas) literally stepped on to the court and learned their roles and everybody in their supports roles around them made it happen and we didn't skip a beat as a team and that really shows what teamwork, family and heart is embedded into the foundation of this team."
SCF vs Hawkeye CC:
Hoping for bounce back, the Manatees looked to challenge the Redtails, the #16 ranked team in the nation.
After the Redtails took the first two sets, the Manatees did not want to fall in straight set like last season, so we all the determination, they managed to seal the third set thanks to a kill by Rhoads
In the fourth set, the Manatees kept their spirit up as Pillow sealed it with a kill to force a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Manatees were down. 6-1 before Burnett burned a timeout to give them some time. After the timeout, the Manatees continued to fight after two straight kills from Sandanom before the Redtails got a kill of their own. Cook would get one final kill before the Redtails sealed the fifth set with a final kill for the win.
Pillow would lead the Manatees offense and defense as she finished with 10 kills and three blocks to go along with one assist. She would finish day one with 17 kills and five blocks.
"Shelbow (Pillow) and Shelee (McGee) had so many heads up plays on defense and was just so dominant," said Burnett on Pillow and McGee. "Shelbow had stuff block after stuff block and shut down other teams' offense into areas and zones that Shelly can pick up and I'm so proud of them."
Sandanom would follow Pillow on the offensive end as she finished with nine kills, while Rhoads and Cook rounded out with eight and seven kills respectively. Rhoads added three digs and two blocks, while Cook added one block. Rhoads finished with 21 kills and five blocks total in both matchs, while Cook finished with 22 kills, nine digs and five blocks.
Steinert finished match two with 33 assists, one kill, three aces, seven digs and three blocks. She finished with 77 assists, three blocks, four aces and 22 digs combined in both matches.
Defensively, apart from Pillow's blocks, McGee would finish with 28 digs and three assists and finished with 47 digs and six assists, while Rebimbas added 15 digs to go along with four kills, one block and one assist while finishing with 32 digs, six kills and three assists.
Stoffel (one ace and six dig), and freshmen Emily Lyons (three kills and one dig), Kloe Pinto (two digs) and Rachel Carroll (one dig) also contributed in the game.
Notes:
1. This was the debuts of Perry, Rhoads, Kohl, Steinert, Rebimbas, Pillow, Cook, Lyons, Carroll and Pinto.
2. This was the first time since 2014 that the Manatees traveled outside of Florida.
Scores from Opponents:
#11 Grand Rapids CC (0-2) fell in their first two matches as they fell to #4 Iowa Central CC 3-1 and #3 Johnson County CC 3-0.
Morraine Valley CC defeated Central Lakes College-Brainerd 3-1 in their second match.
Illinois Central (1-1) split their first day losing the first match 3-1 against Southeastern Iowa before Des Moines Area 3-0 in the second match.
Other Sun Lakes Scores:
Pasco-Hernando State (1-1) split their tri-match losing 3-0 to Eastern Florida State before upsetting #18 Montgomery College (MD) 3-0 in the second match.
Up Next:
The Manatees remain in Rockford as they face Illinois Central (1-1) at 10 am (9 am central) and
#11 Grand Rapids CC at 2 pm Saturday, August 20 before wrapping up the weekend against Ancilla College at Marian University and #1 Parkland College on Sunday, August 21.
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