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.