SCF VB Closes Conference

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (12-13, 5-8 Sun Lakes South) closed out the home portion of the season as they fell to Palm Beach State (11-6, 9-4 Sun Lakes South) 3-0 (23-25, 21-25, 24-26) in their final home match. While they fought to come back, it was ultimately not enough for the Manatees. Despite the loss, the Manatees still secured their spot in the NJCAA Gulf District Tournament in Palatka.

Freshman Bella Rebimbas lead the offense with a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs. Classmate Shelby Pillow would follow with six kills, two digs and three blocks, while sophomore Shelby McGee and freshman Caelen Cook rounded out the order with four kills each. McGee added seven digs and an ace, while Cook added four digs.

Freshman Kendall Steinert 31 assists, one ace, six digs and two blocks.

On the defensive back row, sophomore Lison Stoffel lead the way with 22 digs and two assists, while freshman Rachel Carroll followed with 21 digs.

Freshmen Bailey Perry (four kills), Kloe Pinto (one dig) and Emily Lyons (one dig) also contributed in the match.

Notes:

Freshman Haley Rhoads did not play as she was resting.

With her 31 assists, Steinert surpassed Ewine Guscetti (824, 2018) for sixth all-time in assists. She needs 29 to surpass Gracee Carpino (859, 2019-20) for fifth all-time.

Stoffel's two assists put her at 533 and needs 64 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time.

Other Sun Lakes Scores:

#19 Gulf Coast State (22-3, 10-3 Sun Lakes North) defeated Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-6, 7-5 Sun Lakes North) 3-1. The Commodores will face Coastal Alabama - East (13-17, 13-11 ACCC) Friday night, October 28 at 6 pm. The Blue Wave will face RV Pensacola State (23-7, 9-3 Sun Lakes North) Thursday afternoon, October 27 at 3 pm, but are eliminated from playoff contention.

South Florida (8-11, 5-8 Sun Lakes South) defeated Indian River State (5-21, 1-13 Suncoast) 3-1 to close their part of the regular season. They would claim a spot in the Gulf District Tournament after St. Pete lost their last match.

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1. #19 Gulf Coast State (22-3, 10-3) #

2. RV Pensacola State (23-7, 9-3) #

3. St. John's River (19-14, 9-4)

4. Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-6, 7-5) e

5. Lake Sumter State (10-15, 3-10) e

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (11-6, 9-4) #

2. SCF (12-13, 5-8) #

3. South Florida State (8-11, 5-8) #

4. St. Pete (8-11, 4-9) e

5. Pasco-Hernando State (8-16, 3-10) e

# - Clinched Playoff Berth

e - eliminated

* Conference Champions

Up Next:

The Manatees will wrap up the regular season on the road as they face #16 Hillsborough (16-9, 7-7 Suncoast) Thursday, October 27 at noon.

SCF VB Closes Out Regular Season

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (14-11, 7-6 Sun Lakes South) will close the home portion season at Hal Chasey Gymansium as they welcome Palm Beach State (10-6, 8-4 Sun Lakes South) Wednesday night, October 26 at 6 pm for a rematch before traveling to Tampa to take on #17 Hillsborough (17-8, 8-6 Suncoast) Thursday night, October 27 at noon.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of splitting their last two home matches where they defeated Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range CTC (3-1) before losing to South Florida State (3-0) on sophomore night.

Sun Lakes Conference Standings:

North - 

1.#15 Gulf Coast State (21-3, 9-3) 

2. Pensacola State (21-7, 9-3)

3. St. John's River (18-14, 8-4)

4. Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-5, 7-4)

5. Lake Sumter State (10-14, 3-9) e

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (10-6, 8-4)#

2. SCF (12-12, 5-7)#

3. South Florida State (7-10, 5-7)#

4. St. Pete (7-10, 3-9) e

5. Pasco-Hernando State (8-16, 3-10) e

# Clinched Playoff Berth

e Eliminated from Playoff Contention

Playoff Contenders:

For the first time since 2014, the Manatees have made to the Gulf District Tournament in Palatka, hosted by St. John's River State. Additionally, it will be the first time the Manatees go to the district tournament as a division two team.

Historic Fact:

In 2014, the Manatees, who at the time were division, went to the 16-team NJCAA Volleyball National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming after automatically qualifying after reaching the finals of the FCSAA State Tournament. They would be one of three teams in Florida to go to nationals (Miami Dade and Polk State were the other two teams that went).

The Manatees would finish in 10th place and finish the season 28-7 overall with a 7-1 record in conference where they had the third longest winning streak in program history (22 straight wins) while being ranked nationally.

The following names are the players on the 2014 SCF volleyball team:

JaNhea Beisner

Yamiana 'Yami' Ramos

Jessica Emile

Hannah Curtis

Kalli Collier

Lea Lieb

Katie Gathman

Taylor Lafavre

Jenny D'Alessandro

Holly Kabana

Maja Ristic

Kelly Stewart

Susanna Peonia

New Offense in Charge:

Freshmen Haley Rhoads, Caelen Cook and Bella Rebimbas are currently leading the offensive front and parts of the defense. 

Rhoads currently leads with 203 kills and 50 blocks (14 solo). The North Port native had nine kills, six digs and two blocks in her last match against South Florida State. Rhoads had one of her best offensive outings against Mesabi Range CTC as she had a career-high 20 kills in the match.

Cook, who has stepped up off the bench, currently has 177 kills, 87 digs and 12 blocks. She had six kills and three digs in her last outing.

Rebimbas, who is the hybrid player overall, currently has 172 kills, 16 aces, 267 digs and 20 blocks. She had 10 kills and six digs in her last match.

Block Life:

Freshman Shelby Pillow still leads the Manatees front row defense with Rhoads. Pillow currently has 163 kills and 66 blocks (22 solo). She had three kills and four blocks in her last outing.

Classmate Kendall Steinert has also played a strong front row defense as of late. Steinert currently has 800 assists, 274 digs, 37 aces, 57 kills and 34 blocks (six solo) while securing 16 double-doubles on the season. She secured a double-double of 31 assists and 19 digs against South Florida State. As a result, the product of Lemon Bay High was named the FCSAA Setter of the Week for the Third time this season.

Steinert' 800 assists put her seventh all-time in the program and will need 25 to surpass Ewine Guscetti (824, 2018) to be sixth all-time.

A Wild Hand:

Sophomore Lison Stoffel and Shelby McGee and freshmen Rachel Carroll and Bailey Perry remain the primary wildcard players on the team.

Stoffel, who has been on the attack game recently, currently has 230 digs, 83 assists, 39 kills and a team-leading 47 aces. She had 16 digs and four aces in the sophomore night match against South Florida State.

McGee leads the back row defense while rotating between defensive specialist and starting libero. She currently has 326 digs, 20 aces and 41 assists in her name. McGee had eight digs and one ace on 'sophomore day'.

Perry has been battling recent injuries. Despite not playing the last two matches, Perry still has 42 kills, 95 digs and seven aces.

Carroll has also rotated between libero and back row defensive specialist with McGee. She currently has 161 digs, 19 aces and 21 assists. She had eight digs and one assists in her last outing.

Scouting PBSC:

The Panthers are entering the matchup on a eight-match winning streak after defeating St. Pete College 3-2 while remaining in first place in the south division. 

Sophomore Allison Bryant leads the offense with 249 kills, 34 aces, 198 digs and 25 blocks, while classmates Dena Otte and Nina Vallesi follow with 119 and 111 kills respectively. Otte also has 22 blocks, while Vallesi has 29 blocks (seven solo) and 22 aces.

Defensively, sophomore Ashlyn Banton leads with 264 digs and 22 aces.

The Manatees are 9-11 against the Panthers, which includes the 3-1 loss on the road earlier

Scouting HCC:

The Hawks, who are ranked #17 in the NJCAA DI Polls, are coming off of a 3-0 win over Eastern Florida State and have qualified for a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Southeast District Tournament in Melbourne. They are currently in fifth place in the Suncoast.

Alice Munari and Svenja Rodenbusch lead the offense with 278 and 266 kills respectively and 217 digs each. Munari also has 45 aces, while Rodenbusch has 19.

Janna Morrisey leads the Hawks' back row defense with 313 digs and 22 aces, while Chalina Lederer and Agata Bogdanska lead the front row defense with 48 and 40 blocks respectively.

How to Keep Up:

The match against Palm Beach will air on the SCF Sports network, while the one against HCC will air on the HCC Athletics YouTube Page and fans can keep up with the team on all forms of social media:

Livestream links - 

SCF vs PBSC: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

SCF @ HCC: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCacuu9UlGv5bxz2LvF-Q5w/videos

Social Media -

Instagram: @volleyball_SCF

Twitter: @SCFVolleyball

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

SCF VB Falls to South Florida State on Sophomore Night

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (12-12, 5-7 Sun Lakes South) lost a tough matchup as they fell to South Florida State (7-10, 5-7 Sun Lakes South) 3-0 (23-25, 24-26, 23-25). With the loss, the Manatees are now 12-5 against the Panthers.

Prior to the start of the match, Burnett recognized three of her players on 'sophomore day': Shelby McGee, Lison Stoffel and Lana Sandanom.

All three sets were down to the wire, but no matter how many chances the Manatees had, they were unable to take any of the sets.

Freshman Bella Rebimbas would lead the offense as she finished with 10 kills, one assist, six digs and two blocks. Classmate Haley Rhoads would follow with nine kills, one assist, six digs and two blocks, while Stoffel and freshman Caelen Cook rounded out the order with six kills each. Stoffel added 16 digs, four aces and three assists, while Cook added three digs.

Freshman Kendall Steinert secured her 16th double-double of the season as she finished with 31 assists, a team-leading 19 digs, one aces, four kills and two blocks.

On defense, McGee had eight digs and one ace, while freshman Shelby Pillow added four blocks (one solo), three kills and one dig and classmate Rachel Carroll contributed with eight digs and one assist.

Other Sun Lakes Scores:

South Florida State played Pasco-Hernando State (8-16, 3-10 Sun Lakes South) prior to playing SCF and defeated them 3-2 on Friday, October 21. The Panthers will play St. Pete College Tuesday night, October 25 at 6 pm in their season finale.

Pensacola State College (21-7, 9-3 Sun Lakes North) defeated Florida State College at Jacksonville 3-2 on Friday, October 21 The Pirates will take on Andrew College (6-14) and Enterprise State CC (13-15, 13-10 MJCC) Tuesday, October 25 at 2 and 6 pm.

Palm Beach State (10-6, 8-4 Sun Lakes South) defeated St. Pete College (7-11, 3-9 Sun Lakes South) 3-2 on Friday

St. John's River State (18-14, 8-4 Sun Lakes North) split their three-day Vikings Invitational with a 3-0 win over Andrew College (3-0) and a 3-2 loss to Spartanburg Methodist (19-11, 5-0 CJCC) before losing 3-0 to Monroe College (32-6) and winning 3-0 over Lurleen B. Wallace CC (19-15, 15-9 ACCC). The Vikings close their part of the season as they welcome Lake Sumter State Tuesday night, October 25 and Trinity College of Florida (3-12, 2-2 NCCAA South) Thursday night, October 27 both at 6 pm.

#15 Gulf Coast State (21-3, 9-3 Sun Lakes North) defeated Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-4, 7-4 Sun Lakes North) 3-2. The Commodores will face the Blue Wave at home in a rematch Wednesday afternoon, October 26 at 5 pm before closing their part of the season with a match against Coastal Alabama - East (13-16, 13-10 ACCC) Friday night, October 28 at 6 pm.

Lake Sumter State (10-14, 3-9 Sun Lakes North) also competed in the three-day Viking Invitational as they fell to Spartanburg Methodist and Monroe College both by a score of 3-0 before shutting out Lurleen B. Wallace CC 3-0.

Sun Lakes Conference Standings:

North - 

1.#15 Gulf Coast State (21-3, 9-3) 

2. Pensacola State (21-7, 9-3)

3. St. John's River (18-14, 8-4)

4. Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-5, 7-4)

5. Lake Sumter State (10-14, 3-9) e

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (10-6, 8-4)#

2. SCF (12-12, 5-7)#

3. South Florida State (7-10, 5-7)#

4. St. Pete (7-10, 3-9) e

5. Pasco-Hernando State (8-16, 3-10) e

# Clinched Playoff Berth

e Eliminated from Playoff Contention

Up Next:

The Manatees' season is not yet over as they have two final matches before heading to Palatka. They will face Palm Beach State Wednesday night, October 26 at 6 pm before traveling to Tampa to take on #16 Hillsborough (16-8, 7-6 Suncoast) Thursday night, October 27 at 6 pm.

SCF Volleyball Takes Down Mesabi Range

Bradenton, Fla -  Freshman Haley Rhoads' offense and blocks from classmate Kendall Steinert helped a tired but triumphant SCF volleyball team (12-11, 5-6 Sun Lakes South) take a thriller in their final home non-conference match as they defeated Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range (17-9, 13-3 MCAC) 3-1 (25-22, 25-14, 18-25, 25-22). This was the season finale for the Norse.

"The match felt like a little felter-skelter out there and a little chaotic," said head coach Lynn Burnett. "I saw my players rattled and tired and in the midst of that, Kloe (Pinto) and Emily (Lyons) stepped onto the court and were very strong from the service and we needed that. Emily hasn't had a lot of opportunities to play a lot and was a little nervous in the beginning, but then I saw her relax into it and she got into a position defensively well and both her and Kloe contributed nicely for the team."

"I'm glad we had a day off where we can finally have some rest before facing South Florida State on Saturday and before we face Palm Beach State next week. Rest is something very important and this week, we did not have a lot of it due to all these matches and the rest is going to do the most good for us physically and mentally."

"I think we did really well, especially picking it up at the end when we started off slow with our communication while trusting each other in the back row," said freshman Bella Rebimbas.

As a result of their 12th win, the Manatees ended their season drought for the first time in eight seasons (2014) and are now on the winning side.

"I'm very excited for our record this season," said Burnett on the team. "It's appreciative that it reflects the hard work that I personally put in to this program for the last three years and also what the team has put in for it. I'm excited for the state tournament and looking for good things to happen there."

Before the Manatees played, St. Pete College (7-9, 3-7 Sun Lakes South) played Mesabi Range in a 4 pm match where the Titans won 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-13).

The first set was a thriller as the Norse tried to cut the Manatees deficit, but thanks to a kill from Cook, a double block from Steinert and freshmen Shelby Pillow and a Pillow kill the Manatees took the first set.

In the second set, Pillow would close the gap with a kill and a block before a Norse attack error gave the Manatees the second set.

In the third set, the Norse would take it after some miscommunication from the Manatees, but it made the Manatees stronger on the attack as they took advantage of a ball-handling error to seal the deal in the fourth set.

Rhoads would lead the offense for the Manatees as she finished with a career-high 20 kills (.432 attack percentage), three assists, five digs and one block. Rebimbas would follow with her fourth double-double of the season as she finished with 15 kills, 11 digs, one ace and two assist.

"I was just working on serve-receive a lot, so to be low on defense to move to the ball while finding a open spot when I'm hitting," said Rebimbas on her game.

Pillow and Cook rounded out the order with nine and seven kills respectively. Pillow added three assists and four blocks (one solo), while Cook added three digs.

Steinert secured her 15th double-double of the season as she finished with 47 assists, 15 digs, one ace and a career-high seven blocks (six solo).

On back row defense, sophomore Shelby McGee lead the way with 15 digs and two aces, while classmate Lison Stoffel added seven digs, two assists, four kills and four aces.

Freshmen Rachel Carroll (six digs), Kloe Pinto (one ace) and Emily Lyons (one dig) also contributed in the match.

"Haley was a beast tonight as was Kendall and Bella," said Burnett on Rhoads, Steinert and Rebimbas. "Kendall had so many blocks and with everything that is going on, all three of them were absolute clutch tonight because of their presence on the court while continuing to bring everything they had to the court offensively and defensively and really helped the team with such a strong presence when they're on the court together."

For the Norse, sophomore Kaelynn Kudis lead the way with a double-double of 22 kills, 12 digs, one ace and seven solo blocks. Kudis, the #1 player in the NJCAA DIII, finished the regular season with 515 kills, 331 digs and 100 total blocks (62 solo) and will lead the Norse to the two-day North Plains (13A) District Championship on October 28-29.

Notes:

With her 47 assists, Steinert now has 768 this season and needs 57 to surpass Ewine Guscetti (824, 2018) for sixth all-time.

Stoffel's three assists put her at 516 and needs 81 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time.

Sun Lakes Conference Standings:

North - 

1. Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-2, 7-2)

2. #15 Gulf Coast State (20-3, 8-3)

3. Pensacola State (20-7, 8-3)

4. St. John's River (15-12, 8-4)

5. Lake Sumter State (9-12, 3-9)

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (9-6, 7-4)

2. SCF (12-11, 5-6)

3. St. Pete (7-9, 3-7)

4. South Florida State (5-10, 3-7)

5. Pasco-Hernando State (8-15, 3-9)

Up Next:

The Manatees remain at home as they welcome South Florida State (5-10, 3-7 Sun Lakes South) Saturday afternoon, October 22 at 3 pm. The match will be dubbed as 'sophomore night' for McGee, Stoffel and Lana Sandanom.

SCF VB Readies for Next Two Home Matches

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (11-11, 5-6 Sun Lakes South) will close out the remaining home season at Hal Chasey Gymnasium with three matches. The Manatees will welcome Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range (17-7, 13-3 MCAC) Thursday night, October 20 at 6 pm before welcoming South Florida State (4-11, 2-8 Sun Lakes South) for a rematch Saturday afternoon, Ocotber 22 at 1 pm. St. Pete College (6-10, 3-8 Sun Lakes South) will also be in Bradenton to take on Mesabi Range CTC, but will not face SCF as they played them twice earlier in the season.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of winning two of their last three conference matches on the road. They would fall to Palm Beach State (3-1) before defeating Pasco-Hernando State (3-2) and St. Pete College (3-0). They are currently in second place in the standings of the south division.

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1.  Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-2, 8-2)

2. #15 Gulf Coast State (20-3, 8-3)

3. Pensacola State (20-7, 8-4)

4. St. John's River (15-12, 8-4)

5. Lake Sumter State (9-12, 3-9)

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (9-6, 7-4)*

2. SCF (11-11, 5-6)*

3. South Florida State (5-10, 3-7)

4. St. Pete (6-10, 3-8)

5. Pasco-Hernando State (8-15, 3-9)

Playoff Picture:

The Manatees have secured a spot in the FCSAA State Tournament for the first time since 2014 and could have a possible chance to be in first place if they defeat South Florida Sate and Palm Beach State and Palm Beach State falls to St. Pete on Friday.

St. Pete and South Florida State are fighting for third place in the south division in order to join SCF and Palm Beach State. In the north division, Florida State College at Jacksonville and #15 Gulf Coast State are battling for first place and the #1 seed in the tournament.

Lake Sumter State, who are the defending Sun Lakes Champions, are already eliminated from going to the playoffs, while Pasco-Hernando State has a slim chance to claim a spot if they defeat South Florida State Friday and if South Florida State loses the remainder of conference to SCF and St. Pete.

Sophomore Soundoff:

The match against South Florida State will be dubbed as sophomore day for three of the players: Shelby McGee, Lana Sandanom and Lison Stoffel. They will be honored prior to the start of the match.

McGee, who has rotated from an outside hitter before switching to defensive specialist, lead the path in digging. The Hudson native currently has 303 digs, 41 assists and 17 aces.

Sandanom, a native of Toulouse, France, was one of the power hitters for the Manatees offense. She would finish her sophomore campaign early due to a knee injury and totaled 253 kills, 50 digs and 29 blocks in her career with the Manatees.

Stoffel, a native of Alsace, France, has played a recent role as an attacker for Sandanom while continuing to play roles as a setter and defensive specialist. Stoffel currently has 209 digs, 82 assists and 34 aces. In her career, she has 513 assists and needs 84 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time.

Attack Machines:

Freshmen Haley Rhoads and Caelen Cook have been key players in place of Sandanom and her injury. During the match against Pasco-Hernando, they both secured their first collegiate double-double. In fact, Rhoads was two blocks shy of her first collegiate triple-double.

Rhoads has 174 kills, 12 aces and 55 blocks (18 solo). In her last two matches on the road, the North Port native had 25 kills, one ace and 12 blocks (five solo).

Cook, who has increased her value at her position, has 162 kills, 84 digs and 13 blocks. She had 12 kills against Pasco-Hernando and three kills against St. Pete.

To Assist Beyond Assists:

Speaking of double-doubles, freshman Kendall Steinert leads the way in setting as she has 721 assists, 35 aces, 252 digs and 30 blocks (four solo). In addition, Steinert has 14 double-doubles this season.

Her 721 assists put her at #7 overall in the program and needs 84 to surpass Ewine Guscetti (824, 2018) for sixth-all time.

Block Party:

Alongside Rhoads, freshman Shelby Pillow has lead the front row defense with her blocking ability. Pillow currently has 154 kills and 63 blocks (24 solo). She had one of her best defensive outings against Pasco-Hernando as she finished with seven blocks (four solo) and seven kills while leading the offense against St. Pete with 10 kills and three blocks.

Hybrid Party:

Freshman Bella Rebimbas has play a vital role as the hybrid of the Manatees offense and defense. Rebimbas currently has 148 kills, 250 digs and 15 aces. Against Pasco-Hernando, the native of Naples, Florida had one of her best defensive outings of the season as she secured her third collegiate double-double of 15 kills and a career-high 22 digs.

Wild Party:

Freshmen Bailey Perry and Rachel Carroll continue their role as the wildcard players. Perry has 42 kills,  seven aces and 101 digs, while Carroll has 147 digs and 19 aces. 

Scouting Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range:

Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range hails from Virginia, Minnesota and represents the Minnesota Collegiate Athletic Conference (NJCAA DIII Region 13). They are lead by head coach Sara Matuszak.

The Lady Norse are entering the matchup on a six-match winning streak after shutting out Fond Du Lac Tribe CC, Rainy River CC and Vermilion CC to close their part of MCAC conference play where they finished in first place in the north division of MCAC, claimed the regular season championship and secured a spot in the MCAC District Tournament. The matches against St. Pete and SCF will be their season finales.

Lone sophomore Kaelynn Kudis, a transfer from Vermilion CC, leads the teams offense and defense with 480 kills, 49 aces, 310 digs and 90 blocks (52 solo). Kudis is #1 offensive player in NJCAA DIII in kills and kills per set (5.39).

Freshmen Kylee Huusko and Johanna Westby follow with 165 and 154 kills respectively. Huusko adds 22 aces and 22 blocks, while Westby adds 25 aces, 256 digs and 43 blocks (22 solo).

Alongside Kudis' defense in the front and back row, freshman Abbigail Shuster leads with 355 digs and 34 aces.

This will be the first encounter between both teams.

Scouting SFSC:

The Panthers are coming off of a 3-0 shutout loss to Santa Fe College this past Tuesday. They are currently sitting in fourth place in the south division standings. Prior to playing SCF, the Panthers will face Pasco-Hernando State Friday night, October 21.

Sophomore Isabella Hurtado leads the offense with 101 kills and 29 blocks, while freshmen Jayleen Santiago and Allie Shaffer follow with 96 and 95 kills respectively. Santiago adds 13 blocks to her regime, while Shaffer adds 18 aces and 119 digs

Defensively, freshman Rachel Skyleshas 27 blocks and 57 kills, while sophomore Yeishlanie Reyes leads with 253 digs.

The Manatees played the Panthers earlier in the season in Avon Park where earning a 3-2 thriller victory off of Sandanom's 25 kills. In the series, the Manatees hold a 12-4 lead overall.

How to Keep Up:

Both matches at home against Mesabi Range and South Florida State will air on the SCF Sports Network. Fans can also keep up with the Manatees on social media:

Livestream Links - 

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

Social Media Links -

Instagram: @volleyball_SCF

Twitter: @SCFVolleyball

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

SCF VB Slays St. Pete With Sweep

St. Petersburg, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (11-11, 5-6 Sun Lakes South) pulled of another big moment as they shutout St. Pete College (6-10, 3-8 Sun Lakes South) 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22) at the Gibbs Campus Gymnasium. With the win, the Manatees are now 11-11 against the Titans. Additionally, the Manatees have clinched a spot in the FCSAA State Tournament for the first time since 2014.

"When we got on and off the bus, the team seemed low and disconnected, but focused and unmotivated," said head coach Lynn Burnett. "When we started the warmups, their wasn't a lot of pizazz and hunger, so I took the team out front and said 'let's find a common goal we can agree on and what ingredients we need to make that common goal come together as one team' and Emily Lyons said 'lets' win in three sets' and everyone jumped on board with it because it has been a lot of matches with a lot of sets while we're coming into the final stretch where we need to save our bodies as much as possible so we can get the job done."

"We talked about things like more communication, activity, intensity and the intention on the goal we can accomplish and when they stepped on the court we won serve-receive and SPC sided out immediately, while Kendall (Steinert) stepped back to the line to serve nine straight balls in a row that were aggressive. St. Pete couldn't keep up with our defense and we overwhelmed them while taking advantage of their mistakes while we played like a well-oiled machine and we kind of went through a couple of rotations where we got into a slump and St. Pete came back, but the shining moment was facing the fact that they had this huge lead and then allowed them to come back and it was a wakeup call for us and they did what we told them to do and they bonded together as one."

"Overall, the team dramatically did better than the last time we played St. Pete and that means we're showing some improvements," said freshman Haley Rhoads. "It feels like a relief that we swept them in three sets because with four games this week, our bodies can't take anymore than that. The win also put us in a great position for districts. I don't know how will fair against Mesabi Range, but we can expect a team of Manatees hungry for a win."

"I thought we played very consistent from our serving to our offense," said freshman Kendall Steinert. "It felt good sweeping St. Pete because now we know that we can beat any team that we've played in five sets."

The Manatees got off to a hot start in the first set with a 9-0 run after kills from freshmen Bailey Perry, Isabella Rebimbas and Shelby Pillow and blocks from Pillow and Rhoads, forcing the Titans to call a timeout to secure their first point of the set. The Titans started to push the Manatees and cut the deficit to 12-11 before Burnette called timeout, but determination remained with the Manatees as they fought back before freshman Kendall Steinert would seal the first set with a kill.

The second set was a wild one as the Manatees struggled briefly before they made adjustments while taking advantage of a few attack errors from the Titans and a yellow card issued to SPC head coach Scott White. With blocking from Rhoads, Pillow and Perry, the Manatees took the second set.

The third set got a little messy for both teams with the Titans dealing with service errors and the Manatees dealing with ball-handling errors, but with careful adjustments, the Manatees were able to seal the deal with a kill for the sweep.

Pillow would lead the offense with 10 kills, four digs and three blocks (one solo). Rhoads would follow with eight kills, one aces, five digs and four blocks (two solo).

"I thought I did well on the court," said Rhoads on her game. "I just need to focus on communicating more."

Perry would round out the order with six kills, one assist, one ace, one block and 14 digs.

On setting, Steinert earned her 14th double-double of the season as she finished with 25 assists, 10 digs, five kills and three blocks (one solo).

"I thought I served well and made some good offensive decisions," said Steinert on her game.

On back row defense, aside from Perry and Steinert, Rebimbas had 10 digs and five kills, while sophomore Shelby McGee had 11 digs and four assists.

Sophomore Lison Stoffel (two aces, two assists and nine digs) and freshmen Caelen Cook (three kills and seven digs) and Rachel Carroll (two aces and six digs) also contributed in the match.

Notes:

Steinert's 25 assists put her at 721 and needs 104 to surpass Ewine Guscetti (824, 2018) for sixth all-time. Stoffel's two assists put her at 513 and needs 84 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time.

Other Sun Lakes Scores:

Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-2, 8-2 Sun Lakes North) defeated St. John's River State (15-12, 8-4 Sun Lakes North) 3-2. The Blue Wave will face Pensacola State Friday night, October 21 at 5 pm, while the Vikings return home to host the two-day Viking Invitational Saturday and Sunday, October 22-23 and welcome Spartanburg Methodist (16-10 5-0 CJCC), Andrew College (4-11) and Lurleen B. Wallace CC (18-12, 15-9 ACCC).

Pensacola State (20-7, 8-4 Sun Lakes North) upset #15 Gulf Coast State (20-3, 8-3 Sun Lakes North) 3-2. The Commodores will take on Florida State College at Jacksonville Saturday morning, October 22 at 11 am.

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1. #15 Gulf Coast State (20-3, 8-3)

2. Florida State College at Jacksonville (9-2, 8-2)

3. Pensacola State (20-7, 8-4)

4. St. John's River (15-12, 8-4)

5. Lake Sumter State (9-12, 3-9)

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (9-6, 7-4)

2. SCF (11-11, 5-6)

3. South Florida State (5-10, 3-7)

4. St. Pete (6-10, 3-8)

5. Pasco-Hernando State (8-15, 3-9)

Up Next:

The Manatees return home to Hal Chasey for the next three matches as they welcome Minnesota North College - Mesabi Range (17-7, 13-3 MCAC) (October 20 @ 6 pm), South Florida State (October 22 @ 3 pm) and Palm Beach State (9-6, 7-4 Sun Lakes South (October 26 @ 6 pm).

SCF VB Dances in Five-Set Thriller Sweep Over Pasco-Hernando

New Port Richey, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (10-11, 4-6 Sun Lakes South) were pushed to near breaking point on the road as they secure their first sweep in conference play by defeating Pasco-Hernando State (7-15, 3-9 Sun Lakes South) 3-2 (25-27, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 15-9). With the win, the Manatees are now 6-9 against the Bobcats. As a result, the Manatees have clinched a spot in the FCSAA State Tournament for the first time since 2014.

"Overall, the team did extremely well coming together and fighting their way back into the match," said head coach Lynn Burnett. "They did a great job covering each other's mistakes and recovering from their own personal mistakes. They did a better job of communication on the court, which definitely helped them overcome those obstacles they had in all the sets."

The first set was a back-and-forth battle as both team exchanged several ties and lead changes, but the Bobcats would take the first set after two straight kills.

In the second set, the Manatees were down by as much as 10 after a 9-1 Bobcat run before Burnett called a timeout. After the timeout, the Manatees would go on a 6-0 run of their own before sophomore Lison Stoffel secured the set with an ace.

"The second set was absoultely unbelievable," said Burnett describing the second set. "I felt the momentum shift before it even happened, so I called a timeout and told the team 'the momentum is about to shift, it's your way and you need to ride it but don't take it for granted. No mistakes, play aggressive and go at them' and they went back on the court and did exactly that. The serving itself was either flat deep or short accurate that Pasco couldn't handle it and it overwhelmed their systems that they made so many mistakes and they stayed with each other all the way through."

After exchanging the third and fourth sets, the Manatees would take advantage of the Bobcats' attack errors before sealing the final set for the win.

Three Manatees lead the offense in double figures with two securing a double-double. It was freshman Haley Rhoads that lead the offense and front row defense as she finished with her first collegiate double-double (two blocks shy of a triple-double) of a new season-high 17 kills, 10 digs, one assist and two blocks. Classmate Bella Rebimbas secured her third double-double of the season as she finished 15 kills, a career-high 22 digs, two aces and one block, while freshman Caelen Cook rounded out the order one dig shy of her second collegiate double-double as she finished with 12 kills and nine digs.

"We made some key adjustments in the rotation and put Caelen on the outside because she was more comfortable there, but we knew what we need to do to take the team and pull together and it was our entire warmup that prepared them for this," said Burnett on Cook. "Caelen had the hot hand tonight with Haley (Rhoads). Caelen played the best defense I have ever seen her play with her aggressiveness on the net and she did an excellent job setting the block on the outside for Haley to close to the ball and it really helped our defense get the balls back up and put them in a position of strength to get the opportunities to attack the ball and they took advantage of it."

Freshman Kendall Steinert secured her 13th double-double of the season with 46 assists, 16 digs and two kills.

Apart from Rhaods' blocks and Rebimbas' digs, freshman Shelby Pillow finished with three blocks (one solo), seven kills and two digs in the match, while classmate Bailey Perry had 15 digs, four kills and a block and sophomores Shelby McGee and Lison Stoffel added 13 and 12 digs respectively. McGee added one kill and two assists and Stoffel added three aces and one assist. Freshman Rachel Carroll also contributed in the match with two aces, one assist and nine digs.

Notes:

Steinert's 46 assists put her at 696 on the season as she surpassed Kaylee Forman (651, 2020-21) for seventh all-time. She needs 129 to surpass Ewine Guscetti (824, 2018) for sixth all-time.

"Kendall kept herself at the top of the leaderboard with her decision-making, knowing where to put the set and getting the attackers around the block with her creativity," said Burnett on Steinert.

Stoffel's one assist put her at 511 as she needs 86 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time.

The Manatees reached double-digit wins under Burnett for the first time since 2017 (12-22).

"I'm proud of the effort that we did," said Burnett on the season. 

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1. #11 GCSC (19-2, 8-2)

2. FSCJ (7-2, 6-2)

3. SJR (15-11, 8-3)

4. PSC (18-7, 7-3)

5. LSSC (9-12, 3-9)

South - 

1. PBSC (8-6, 7-4)

2. SCF (10-11, 4-6)

3. SPC (6-9, 3-7)

4. SFSC (5-9, 3-7)

5. PHSC (7-15, 3-9)

Up Next:

The Manatees will wrap up their three-match road trip as they travel to St. Petersburg to take on St. Pete College (6-9, 3-7 Sun Lakes South) Wednesday night, October 19 at 6 pm.

SCF VB Falls to PBSC

Lake Worth, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (9-11. 3-6 Sun Lakes South) fought hard in the third set, but it was ultimately not enough as they fell to Palm Beach State (8-6, 7-4 Sun Lakes South) 3-1 (15-25, 13-25, 25-13, 16-25) at the Elisabeth W. Erling Gymnasium. 

The first two sets saw the Panthers take advantage of the Manatees' miscommunication and while the Manatees did fight hard to not be shutout, the fourth set proved to be the dagger as the Panthers secured the win.

Offensively, it was freshman Shelby Pillow that lead the offense and front row defense as she finished with 10 kills, two digs and six blocks (five blocks assists). Classmate Haley Rhoads would follow with eight kills, one ace, six digs and two blocks, while freshman Bella Rebimbas rounded out the order with seven kills, nine digs, three blocks and one assist.

Freshman Kendall Steinert secured her 13th double-double of the season as she finished with 26 assists, 14 digs, one kill and two blocks.

On the serving game, freshman Bailey Perry lead with three aces to go along with four kills, eight digs and one assist.

Defensively, apart from Pillow's six blocks and Stienert's 14 digs, freshman Rachel Carroll lead the way with 15 digs, four assists and one ace.

Sophomores Lison Stoffel (six kills, one ace, three digs and two blocks) and Shelby McGee (four digs and one assist) and freshman Caelen Cook (one kill and one dig) also contributed in the match.

Notes:

Steinert's 26 assists pushed her to 650 this season and is now seventh all-time in career assists as she surpassed Brandi McGee (634, 2017). She needs two to surpass Kaylee Forman (651, 2020-21) for seventh all-time.

Other Sun Lakes Scores:

South Florida State (5-9, 3-7 Sun Lakes South) defeated Pasco-Hernando State (7-14, 3-8 Sun Lakes South) 3-1. The Panthers will take on Santa Fe College (4-13, 0-11 Suncoast) Tuesday night, October 18.

PBSC will take on Johnson University Florida (5-10, 3-2 NCCAA South) Tuesday night, October 18.

Pensacola State (18-7, 7-3 Sun Lakes North) shutout Lake Sumter State (9-12, 3-9 Sun Lakes North) 3-0. The Pirates will take on Lurleen B. Wallace CC (17-10, 14-8 ACCC) Tuesday night, October 18, while the Lakehawks compete in the two-day Viking Invitational in Palatka against Spartanburg Methodist (16-10, 5-0 CJCC), Monroe College (25-6) and Lurleen B. Wallace CC on October 22-23.

St. John's River State (15-11, 8-3 Sun Lakes North) upset #11 Gulf Coast State (19-2, 8-2 Sun Lakes North) 3-1. The Commodores will take on Pearl River CC (18-10, 1-0 MACJC) Tuesday night, October 18.

Florida State College at Jacksonville (7-2, 6-2 Sun Lakes North) def Trinity Baptist College (0-18, 0-4 NCCAA South) 3-0. The Blue Wave will take on St. John's River State Wednesday night, October 19.

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1. #11 GCSC (19-2, 8-2)

2. FSCJ (7-2, 6-2)

3. SJR (15-11, 8-3)

4. PSC (18-7, 7-3)

5. LSSC (9-12, 3-9)

South - 

1. PBSC (8-6, 7-4)

2. SCF (9-11, 3-6)

3. SPC (6-9, 3-7)

4. SFSC (5-9, 3-7)

5. PHSC (7-14, 3-8)

Up Next:

The Manatees will remain on the road as they travel to New Port Richey to take on Pasco-Hernando State at the PHSC West Campus Gymnasium Monday night, October 17 at 6 pm.

SCF VB Returns on the Road

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (9-10, 4-5 Sun Lakes South) return on the road for their next three matches of Sun Lakes Conference play as they travel to Lake Worth to take on Palm Beach State (7-6, 6-4 Sun Lakes South) at the Elisabeth W. Erling Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, October 15 at 1 pm. They will then play in rematches as they travel back to New Port Richey to take on Pasco-Hernando State (7-12, 3-6 Sun Lakes South) at the PHSC West Campus Gymnasium before traveling to St. Petersburg to take on St. Pete College (6-9, 2-6 Sun Lakes) at the St. Pete Gibbs Campus Gymnasium Wednesday night, October 19 at 6 pm.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a sweep in their last two matches as they defeated SPC (3-2) and Trinity College of Florida (3-0) at home. Both matches were makeups after being postponed due to the arrival of Hurricane Ian.

As a result of their wins, the Manatees have moved up to second place in the standings.

Sun Lakes Conference Standings:

North - 

1. #11 Gulf Coast State (18-1, 7-1)

2. Florida State College at Jacksonville (7-2, 6-2)

3. St. John's River (14-11, 7-3)

4. Pensacola State (17-7 6-3)

5. Lake Sumter State (9-10, 3-7)

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (6-6, 5-4)

2. SCF (9-10, 4-5)

3. St. Pete (6-8, 3-6)

4. Pasco-Hernando State (7-13, 3-7)

5. South Florida State (4-9, 2-7)

Sandanom Shutdown:

Sophomore Lana Sandanom will be shutdown for the remainder of the season after sustaining a knee injury against Florida State College at Jacksonville at home. Sandanom finished with 191 kills, 24 digs and 16 blocks (two solo).

Taking Over:

With Sandanom out, freshmen Haley Rhoads and Caelen Cook look to step up to fill the void offensively. Rhoads currently has 141 kills, 10 aces and 41 blocks (13 solo), while Cook leads with 146 kills, 11 blocks and 67 digs. Rhoads had a season-high 15 kills, five digs and four blocks (two solo) against SPC before resting against Trinity, while Cook had 15 combined kills, five digs and two aces in both matches.

Classmates Shelby Pillow and Bella Rebimbas have also come in to help on offense as well as playing their defensive roles. Pillow, the lead blocker, has 127 kills and 48 blocks (19 solo) in her name, while Rebimbas, the hybrid on the team, has 121 kills, 209 digs and 14 blocks. Pillow had 13 kills and six blocks (four solo) in both matches at home, while Rebimbas had six kills and 16 digs against SPC before resting against Trinity.

An Additional Role:

For sophomore Lison Stoffel, she has gained another role to her regime as an attacker. Stoffel, who primarily plays defensive specialist and setter, currently has 22 kills, 74 assists, 29 aces and 186 digs. In the last two matches at home, she had a combined 17 kills, 10 assists, five aces and 15 digs.

Additionally, Stoffel currently has 514 assists in her career (including 310 with Independence CC) and needs 83 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time in career assists.

Double-Double Setting:

Freshman Kendall Steinert leads the set game with 626 assists, 206 digs, 35 aces and 22 blocks (four solo). In both matches, Steinert had a combined 63 assists, 24 digs, three aces and four kills.

Additionally, Steinert is ninth all-time in assists for the team and needs nine to surpass Brandi McGee (634, 2017) for eighth all-time.

Recent Noise:

Sophomore Shelby McGee and freshmen Rachel Carroll and Bailey Perry have been making noise as the wildcards.

McGee lead the back row defense with 282 digs and 17 aces, while Carroll has 124 digs and 16 aces and Perry has 28 kills and 66 digs.

McGee and Carroll have rotated between sets at the libero spot in the last two home matches with McGee having a combined 31 digs and two ace, while Carroll had a combined 27 digs, five assists and four aces. Perry played against SPC where she had seven kills and 10 digs before resting against Trinity.

Scouting Palm Beach State:

The Panthers are entering the match on a five-match winning streak after shutouts over South Florida State and St. Pete College and are in first place in conference.

Sophomore Allison Bryant leads the offense with 182 kills, 23 aces and 19 blocks, while classmates Dena Otte and Nina Vallesi follow with 90 and 82 kills respectively. Otte also has 14 blocks, while Vallesi has 22 blocks (five solo) and 17 aces.

Defensively, sophomore Ashlyn Banton leads with 187 digs and 14 aces.

The Manatees are 9-10 against the Panthers.

Scouting Pasco-Hernando:

The Bobcats are in fourth place in conference and are coming off of two straight losses to Palm Beach (3-0) and St. Pete College (3-2). They will play South Florida State Saturday afternoon, October 15 prior to playing SCF.

Three players lead the Bobcats offense with 100+ kills: Isabella Greifenstein (169 kills and 152 digs), Kylie Ciani (143 kills and 25 blocks) and Caitlyn Cindrich (130 kills and 37 blocks), while Elena Castillo-Wetzell leads with 245 digs.

The Manatees are 5-9 against the Bobcats, which includes the previous 3-1 win at Hal Chasey Gymnasium (9/14).

Scouting SPC:

The Titans enter the match up in third place in the standings and are coming off of a 3-2 win over Pasco-Hernando State before losing 3-0 to Palm Beach State.

Sophomore Bianca Johnson (176 kills) and freshman Madison Clark (134 kills) lead the Titans' offense, while sophomores Alexandria Wright (10 blocks and 16 kills) and Amber Werkmeister (96 digs) lead the defense.

The Manatees are 10-11 against the Titans, which includes the 3-2 win this past Tuesday.

How to Keep Up:

All three games will air on livestream and fans can keep up with the Manatees on social media

Livestream Links - 

SCF @ PBSC - https://www.youtube.com/c/PBSCAthletics

SCF @ PHSC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8v53yVeySU

SCF @ SPC - https://athletics.spcollege.edu/broadcast/watch

Social Media Links -

Instagram: @volleyball_SCF

Twitter: @SCFVolleyball

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

SCF VB Finalize Sweep Over Trinity

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (9-10, 3-5 Sun Lakes South) pulled off their first home/away series sweep of the season as they shutout Trinity College of Florida (2-10, 1-1 NCCAA) 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-14) at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. With the win, the Manatees are now 2-0 against the Tigers.

"Overall, the team did pretty good," said head coach Lynn Burnett. "The first two sets were really clean while the third set was a little messy where we lost a little bit of focus, but then regained it back to close it out with a lot of kills and aces overall."

"I thought we did pretty good overall," said sophomore Lison Stoffel. "It was a good opportunity to see some of the players that do not get to play much while we ran a 6-2 rotation, which is something we don't run often in practice because it's new, but I thought we did pretty good."

"I think the team did really good overall with experimenting new formations," said freshman Kloe Pinto. "I think we also did a good job having each other's backs and communicated really well. I had a lot of support from the bench and it worked out."

“I thought we did really good,” said freshman Rachel Carroll. "We switched a lot of roles around and did really well adapting to them. Overall, I'm really proud of how we did, especially for Kloe (Pinto) and Emily (Lyons). They did so good out there."

All three sets were in the Manatees with the first two being clean for them. While the third set saw the Tigers try to creep up and cut the deficit, it just made the Manatees' offense and serving work harder and stronger to complete the sweep and the series. 

In the end, it was freshman Caelen Cook that lead the Manatees offense as she finished with 11 kills, two aces, one dig and a block. Stoffel would follow with nine kills, nine assists, a career-high four aces, three digs and two blocks.

"I chose not to jump serve, which is something that I usually do when I serve," said Stoffel on her game. "I think sometimes it's better for me to serve the ball with more of a float that I had to get those four aces, depending on the team we face."

Freshman Shelby Pillow would round out the order with six kills, one dig and two blocks. Classmate Kendall Steinert would secure her 12th double-double of the season as she finished with 22 assists, 11 digs, one ace and two kills.

Defensively, sophomore Shelby McGee would finish with eight digs and two aces, while Carroll followed with six digs, two aces and one assist.

"I thought I did pretty good out there, even if it was a slow game for me," said Carroll on her playing. "It got better after though, which I'm proud of myself."

Pinto (two kills, one ace and three digs) and freshman Emily Lyons (four kills, four digs and a block) also contributed in the match.

Notes:

With her 22 assists, Steinert now has 624 so far and needs 11 to surpass Brandi McGee (634, 2017) for eighth all-time in career assists.

Stoffel's eight assists push her to 518 in her career and needs 79 to surpass Sanja Vojnovic (596, 2015) for 10th all-time.

Freshmen Bailey Perry, Haley Rhoads and Bella Rebimbas did not play in the match as they were resting.

Other Sun Lakes Scores:

Palm Beach State (6-6, 5-4 Sun Lakes South) shutout South Florida State (4-9, 2-7 Sun Lakes South) 3-0. SFSC will take on Pasco-Hernando State Saturday afternoon, October 15 at 1 pm.

St. Pete College (6-8, 3-6 Sun Lakes South) defeated Pasco-Hernando State (7-13, 3-7 Sun Lakes South) 3-2. The Titans will take on Palm Beach State Friday night, Octoeber 14 at 6 pm.

Lake Sumter State (9-10, 3-7 Sun Lakes North) shutout Santa Fe College (4-12, 0-10 Suncoast) 3-0. The Lakehawks will take on #11 Gulf Coast State (18-1, 7-1 Sun Lakes North) Friday night, October 14 at 6 pm.

Sun Lakes Conference Standings:

North - 

1. #11 Gulf Coast State (18-1, 7-1)

2. St. John's River (14-10, 7-2)

3. Florida State College at Jacksonville (7-2, 6-2)

4. Pensacola State (17-6, 5-3)

5. Lake Sumter State (9-10, 3-7)

South - 

1. Palm Beach State (6-6, 5-4)

2. SCF (9-10, 4-5)

3. St. Pete (6-8, 3-6)

4. Pasco-Hernando State (7-13, 3-7)

5. South Florida State (4-9, 2-7)

Up Next:

The Manatees will be on the road for the next three matches as they face Palm Beach State (Oct. 15 at 1 pm), Pasco-Hernando State (Oct. 17 at ) at 6 pm and St. Pete (Oct 19.) at 6 pm.

SCF VB Takes Five Set Thriller vs SPC

Bradenton, Fla - After having only one practice for the entire week due to Hurricane Ian, the SCF volleyball team (8-10, 3-5 Sun Lakes South) proved no boundaries got in their way as they defeated St. Pete College (5-8, 2-6 Sun Lakes South) 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 16-25, 15-13) in nail-biting thriller at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. With the win, the Manatees are no 10-11 overall against the Titans (2011-present).

“Overall, the offense was very crafty and intelligent when they were playing sharp, which would make them unstoppable,” said head coach Lynn Burnett. "Their first ball side-out was probably some of the best I've seen out of them yet. Defensively, they played as one. They got to so many balls that were just a wing and a prayer that there was someone to back them up because they played together so good. I think the scrappiness that they had where we moved some players around and they figured out how to make it work and still play volleyball together when they're on a different spot on the court, even from set to set and I'm very proud of them for that."

“I think there were some downs, but there were some awesome ups as well,” said freshman Kendall Steinert. "I think we really worked hard in practice yesterday and usually Monday practices are a little sluggish, but it was a good practice this week and we came into this match with confidence and knew w were going to pull it off in the end."

“I felt like we did really well,” said freshman Bailey Perry. "We had a little bit of scrappiness in one run where we didn't really do well, but after that we came back and wanted it more than the other team."

"Overall, I think that we had struggled points throughout the match with passing,” said freshman Haley Rhoads. "I think that I was happy that we were able to overcome that and not let that stop the match as we continued to push throughout and that's what lead us to win."

The first set saw a back and forth matchup with kills from Rhoads and freshman Shelby Pillow, but ultimately the Titans would take the first set. After some adjustments, the Manatees took the second set thanks to a Perry kill. After a Steinert kill helped the Manatees take the third set, the Titans would take advantage of the Manatees miscommunication and reception errors to take the fourth set to force a fifth.

At the start of the fifth set, Burnett would make an crucial adjustment to the defense as she had sophomore Shelby McGee play as the libero. After being down 7-6, the Manatees continued their fight as Rhoads and Perry would get kills to put the Manatees up. After a timeout, with the score tied at 13 apiece, the Manatees would get a kill from Rhoads before Perry sealed the deal with a final kill for the win.

Rhoads was the offensively leader as she finished with a season-high 15 kills, two assists, five digs and four blocks (two solo).

"I think a lot of my kills came from tips, but people should remember that tips kills are still kills," said Rhoads on her game. "It was so important to play smart on the court and know what's open without slamming the ball because it's the same point."

Sophomore Lison Stoffel would fall one kill shy of her first double-double of the season as she finished with a career-high nine kills, 11 digs, and two assists.

"I've seen what Lison has done on the sand and I know the passion and hunger that's in her belly while wanting to be everything that she can with the team this season," said Burnett on Stoffel. "She came to me earlier in the season just wanting to know her role and we had a great conversation back then and I told her to be patient because it's a huge role and don't know what it looks like yet while trying to unfold it. Several weeks ago, I told her that she needs to be aggressive on attacking from the back row and the options with her lefty coming out to be able to swing to the cross and to the line. It's going to be powerful for her to keep her head in the game. Then, we started practicing front row and in only one practice and my highest expectations of Lison matched."

Perry and freshman Shleby Pillow rounded out the order with seven kills each. Perry added 10 digs and one block, while Pillow added three solo blocks and one dig

"I thought I did really well," said Perry on her game. "I had to get taken out for a couple of sets because I was battling some pain in my ankle, but I came back in the fifth ser and was ready to win while pushing through the pain to get the last point and it was fantastic."

Steinert would earn her 11th double-double of the season as she finished with 39 assists, 14 digs, two kills and two aces.

"I think my placements on my sets was very good tonight," said Steinert on her game.

Defensively, aside from digs by Steinert, Stoffel and Perry, McGee and freshman Bella Rebimbas lead the way with 16 digs each. McGee added one assist, while Rebimbas added six kills.

Freshmen Rachel Carroll (14 digs, four assists and one ace) and Caelen Cook (four kills and three digs) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

With her 39 assists, Steinert now has 602 this season and has surpassed Sanja Vojonovic (596, 2015) for ninth all-time. She needs 50 to surpass Brandi McGee (634, 2017) for eighth all-time. 

Other Sun Lakes Scores:

#11 Gulf Coast State (18-1, 7-1 Sun Lakes North) defeated Pensacola Christian College (8-13, 2-3 NCCAA) 3-1 on Monday night. The Commodores will take on Lake Sumter State College Friday night, October 13 at 6 pm.

St. John's River State (14-10, 7-2 Sun Lakes North) shutout Lake Sumter State (8-10, 3-7 Sun Lakes North) 3-0. The Vikings will take on Pensacola State College (17-6, 5-3 Sun Lakes North) Friday night, October 14 at 5 pm, while the Lakehawks take on Santa Fe College (4-10, 0-9 Suncoast) Wednesday night, October 12 at 5 pm.

Florida State College at Jacksonville (7-2, 6-2 Sun Lakes South) defeated Trinity Baptist College (0-14, 0-7 NCCAA) 3-0. The Blue Wave will take on Trinity Baptist College in rematch on the road Saturday afternoon, October 15 at 2 pm.

Pasco-Hernando State (7-12, 3-6 Sun Lakes South) fell to Palm Beach State (5-6, 4-4 Sun Lakes South) 3-0. The Bobcats will take on St. Pete College Wednesday night, October 12 at 6 pm, while the Panthers take on South Florida State (4-8, 2-6 Sun Lakes South) Wednesday night, October 12 at 6 pm.

Sun Lakes Standings:

North - 

1. #11 Gulf Coast State (18-1, 7-1)

2. St. John's River (14-10, 7-2)

3. FSCJ (7-2, 6-2)

4. Pensacola State (17-6, 5-3)

5. Lake Sumter (8-10, 3-7)

South -

1. PBSC (5-6, 4-4)

2. SCF (8-10, 3-5)

3. PHSC (7-12, 3-6)

4. SPC (5-8, 2-6)

5. SFSC (4-8, 2-6)

Up Next:

The Manatees remain at home as they welcome Trinity College of Florida (2-9, 1-1 NCCAA) Thursday night, October 13 at 6 pm.