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.
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