SCF VB Readies for Home Matches

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (7-10, 2-5 Sun Lake South) will look to bounce back in Sun Lakes Conference play at Hal Chasey Gymnasium as they face St. Pete College (5-7, 2-5 Sun Lakes South) Tuesday night, October 11 before taking on Trinity College of Florida (2-8, 1-1 NCCAA South Region) Thursday night, October 13 for non-conference play. Both matches will start at 6 pm

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a 3-2 loss to Florida State College at Jacksonville at home this past Saturday.

Rescheduling Shuffle:

Due to the arrival of Hurricane Ian hitting the Tampa Bay area, a few of the Manatees' matches have been either postponed to another date or cancelled. The statuses of the following matches are as listed:

@ Webber International JV scrimmage (9/29): cancelled 

vs Palm Beach State (10/1): Pushed back to Wednesday night, October 26 at 6 pm

@ Pasco-Hernando State (10/5): Pushed back to Monday night, October 17 at 6 pm.

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1. #10 GCSC (16-0, 7-0)

2. #19 SJR (13-9, 6-1)

3. Florida State College at Jacksonville (4-2, 4-2)

4. Pensacola State (10-7, 4-3)

5. Lake Sumter State (7-8, 3-5)

South -

1. Palm Beach State (4-6, 3-4)

2. Pasco-Hernando (7-12, 3-6)

3. St. Pete (5-7, 2-5)

4. SCF (7-10, 2-5)

5. South Florida State (4-8, 2-6)

Playoff Hopes:

The Manatees still have a chance to make it to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Gulf District Volleyball Tournament in Palatka, but in order to make the dream a reality they have to finish in at least third place in their division to qualify as one of eight teams (seven from Region 8, one from Region 23 (MLJCC)). They would have to keep winning the remainder of their conference matches to do so or win an at-large bid for it.

Sophomore Lana Sandanom leads the team's offense with 191 kills (#2 in the state, #51 in the nation) and 16 blocks. Against FSCJ, the one-time FCSAA Player of the Week had 10 kills in two sets before sustaining an injury.

Freshmen Caelen Cook and Haley Rhoads follow suit with Sandanom offensively. Cook has 131 kills (#13 in the state, #155 in the nation), 62 digs and 11 blocks, while Rhoads has 126 kills (#14 in the state, #170 in the nation), 40 digs and 37 blocks (11 solo; #6 in the state, #124 in the nation). Cook had nine kills, six digs and a block against FSCJ, while Rhoads had a season-high 14 kills, one dig and one block.

Defensively, the Manatees are currently #37 in the nation in digs and leading the path are sophomores Shelby McGee and Lison Stoffel and freshmen Rachel Carroll and Bella Rebimbas.

McGee currently leads the team with 251 digs (#3 in the state, #69 in the nation) to go along with 15 aces and 32 assists. She lead the way with 18 digs and two assists against FSCJ.

Stoffel had 17 digs, two assists and two aces against FSCJ. She currently has 171 digs, 64 assists and 24 aces (#12 in the state, 160 in the nation)

Carroll, who rotated between libero and defensive specialist, currently has 97 digs and 11 aces so far. She had 14 digs and one assist against FSCJ.

Rebimbas, who is the hybrid player offensively and defensively, currently has 115 kills (#20 in the state, #213 in the nation), 13 aces and 193 digs (#8 in the state, #143 in the nation). The Naples native had 11 kills, four digs and an ace against FSCJ.

Freshman Shelby Pillow leads the defensive in the front row with 42 blocks (15 solo; #3 in the state, #97 un the nation) and 114 kills (#22 in the state, #219 in the nation). Pillow had 12 kills and one block against FSCJ.

Double-Double Machine:

Freshman Kendall Steinert has been the main puzzle pieces that kept the Manatees' attacks in order. Steinert 563 assists (#2 in the state, #14 in the nation), 32 aces (#4 in the state, #71 in the nation), 182 digs (#10 in the state, #165 in the nation) and 10 double-doubles of assists and digs (four straight and counting). The Englewood native secured her fourth straight double-double of 58 assists (career-high) and 16 digs to go along with four aces.

Wildlife:

Since returning from her injury in the beginning of the season, freshman Bailey Perry has been the wildcard player and has made her intentions known. Perry currently has 21 kills and 56 digs. She had eight kills and 13 digs against FSCJ.

Scouting SPC:

The Titans are coming off of wins over Ave Maria University JV (3-0) in Bradenton and Webber International JV (3-1). They are currently in third place in the division.

Sophomore Bianca Johnson leads the Titans offense with 176 kills and seven blocks (three solo), while Madison Clark follows with 134 kills and eight blocks (two solo). The defense is lead by Amber Werkmeister who has 96 digs, while sophomore Alexandra Wright leads with 10 blocks (five solo) and 16 kills.

The Titans hold an 11-9 lead in the overall series.

Scouting Trinity:

The Tigers, who play in the NCCAA, are entering the matchup on a four-match losing streak after losing to Florida College (NAIA) 3-0.

Cheyenne Field lead the Tigers offense and defense with 100 kills, 80 digs, 13 aces and 14 blocks, while Yana Short follows with 46 kills and 13 blocks.

The Manatees played the Tigers earlier in the season where they won 3-0 in New Port Richey.

How to Keep Up:

Both matches at home against SPC and Trinity will air on the SCF Sports Network. Fans can also keep up with the Manatees on social media

Livestream Links -

SCF @ PHSC: https://www.youtube.com/c/PHSCWomensVolleyball/featured

SCF vs SPC and SCF vs Trinity: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

Social Media Links -

Instagram: @volleyball_SCF

Twitter: @SCFVolleyball

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCFvolleyball