Sandanom's 25 Lifts SCF VB Over South Florida State



Avon Park, Fla - Sophomore Lana Sandanom’s offensive spark and a game-winning kill from freshman Bailee Perry helped the SCF volleyball team (7-9, 2-4 Sun Lakes South) win on the road as they defeated South Florida State (2-7, 1-5 Sun Lakes South) 3-2 (18-25, 25-12, 22-25, 25-12, 15-5) at the Panther Gym in Avon Park. With the win, the Manatees are now 13-4 against the Panthers and have moved up to first place in the Sun Lakes Conference.

“The team recovered well from errors and did an exceptional job in following directions from the coaches and pull themselves together by finding the holes over the block and serving aggressively,” said head coach Lynn Burnett. “The communication was fantastic."


“We did really good overall today,” said Sandanom. “Everyone was just running to get every ball and our defense was pretty good with the communication compared to the other matches and our energy was amazing, so I thought we did great and it was fun.”

“I think we did really good overall,” said Perry. “The first set was a little wonky for us, but after that we started getting into the groove, talking a lot more and we were just dominating. Most of our points were off of South Florida State's errors and mistakes. Other than that, we did really good and got the win.”

“I think we did pretty well overall,” said freshman Bella Rebimbas “In the first set, we didn't play as well but we came back with a lot of energy and we fought back to force the fifth set and that's why we stayed up the whole time.”

“I think the team did absolutely amazing overall,” said freshman Shelby Pillow. "The connection was immaculate, everybody was talking to each other and trusted each other. We played like a team should have played. It was a huge amount of teamwork that also helped us out a lot that we got Bailey (Perry) back in the rotation. She did fantastic and everybody really showed out."

“I think we did really well,” said freshman Kendall Steinert. “The first set was a little rocky due to the passing, but our communication was really well.”

The first set saw in favor of the Panthers taking the first set off of a tip kill, but the Manatees returned the favor as sophomore Shelby McGee sent an ace down the middle to give the Manatees the second.

While the third belonged to the Panthers, it was still a dog fight for the Manatees as Sandanom secured the fourth set for the Manatees with a kill and forced a fifth.

After being up 3-2 in the fifth set, the Manatees went on a 6-0 run with freshman Rachel Carroll serving. After a few more adjustments, Perry would seal it with a kill to the left to give the Manatees their first five-set win.

Three Manatees lead the way offensively. Sandanom was the main leader as she finished with a career-high 25 kills and six digs. 

“It felt amazing,” said Sandanom on her setting a new career-high. "I was shocked, but I'm really proud because my goal is to put the ball on the floor, so I'm very proud of that."

Perry would get her first collegiate double-double as she finished with a season-high 10 kills, a team-leading and season-high 18 digs, one assist, two aces and three blocks.

"It was my first match back playing front row since my injury during the NJCAA Weekend Tournament in Illinois," said Perry on getting the game-winning kill. “It was just amazing. The fact I came back strong and was able to help out my team as much as I can."

"Bailey and Lana played amazing," said Pillow on Perry and Sandanom. "They're so hard-working and deserved everything that they earned today. They were so aggressive and just played amazing."

"I watched Bailey's confidence grow every play in set over set," said Burnett on Perry. "She just became more and more confident and was hitting over the block. She has such a fast arm swing and her placement on where she chose to put the finesse on the ball, like she had to take the trash out, it was her style."

"I'm proud of how Bailee did today," said assistant coach Craig Wolfe. "She's been so anxious to get back into the lineup after recovering from injury, but doing things the right way by getting completely healed to come back and she made the most of it today."

“Some of those kills that Lana had were complete scramble plays that are outside, dug a ball, threw it up and spiked it,” said Burnett on Sandanom. “It was amazing on so many levels. Swing line, she swung line immediately when we said it and looking for the holes and then at the end coach (Kim) Crawford said that she'll have to redesign my defense because they couldn't stop Lana."

Pillow rounded out the order with 10 kills, one assist and two blocks.

“I did really well with the help of my teammates,” said Pillow on her game. “Our defense pushing and pulling really hard to be really scrappy and get the ball enough to give Kendall (Steinert) the chance to set up to use me as an offense weapon and once we all connected, along with Haley (Rhoads), we exposed their defense and completely took over.”

Steinert would get her ninth double-double of the season as she finished with 51 assists, 12 digs, one ace and three blocks. This was Steinert's first 50+ assist match this season.

“I thought my placement on my set was really good and I thought I played really good defense,” said Steinert on her game.

"Kendall's set selection was right on point," said Wolfe on Steinert. "She made the right choices at the right time and ran the offense as it should be."

Defensively, aside from double-digit digs from Perry and Steinert, Rebimbas and Carroll would finish with 13 and 12 digs respectively. Rebimbas added one kill, one assist and an ace, while Carroll added two aces and three assists.

“I did pretty good on defense,” said Rebimbas on her defense. "I thought we were all trusting each other  to know that someone else was there and we just went for it to get the win.”

Freshman Haley Rhoads lead the way in blocking as she finished with five blocks (one solo) to go along with nine kills. while McGee added 13 digs and an ace.

McGee (nine digs and two aces), sophomore Lison Stoffel (nine digs and one assist) and freshman Caelen Cook (seven kills, seven digs and one assist) also contributed in the match.

Other Sun Lakes Scores:
Palm Beach State (2-6, 2-4 Sun Lakes South) swept Pasco-Hernando State (5-11, 2-5 Sun Lakes South) 3-0. The Panthers will face South Florida State Wedensday night, September 21 at 6 pm.

#13 St. John's River State (11-8, 5-0 Sun Lakes North) were swept and upset by Navarro College (18-2, 4-1 SJCC) by a score of 3-0 and Panola College (6-6, 1-2 SWJC) on day two of the Lee College Invitational in Texas. The Vikings will play Webber International JV Tuesday night, September 20 at 6 pm.

RV Pensacola State (9-5, 4-1 Sun Lakes North) swept Bevill State CC (1-13, 1-9 ACCC) 3-0. The Pirates will take on Lake Sumter State (5-7, 2-4 Sun Lakes North) Friday night, September 23 at 6 pm.


Sun Lakes Conference Standings:
North -
1. #15 Gulf Coast State (12-0, 5-0)
2. #13 St. John's River (11-8, 5-0)
3. RV Pensacola State (9-5, 4-1)
4. FSCJ (3-2, 3-2)
5. LSSC (5-7, 2-4)

South - 
1. SCF (7-9, 2-4)
2. SPC (3-6, 2-4)
3. PBSC (2-6, 2-4)
4. PHSC (5-11, 2-5)
5. SFSC (3-7, 2-5)

Up Next:
The Manatees will return home for four straight matches as they welcome Ave Maria University JV (0-2), Trinity College of Florida (2-7, 1-1 NCCAA) for a tri-match Friday, September 23 at 2 and 6 pm. They will then play Florida State College at Jacksonville (3-2, 3-2 Sun Lakes North) Saturday afternoon, September 24 at 3 pm before wrapping up against St. Pete College (3-6, 2-4 Sun Lakes South) Wednesday night, September 28 at 6 pm.

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