SCF VB Closes Season

Bradenton, Fla - While their playoffs chances are diminished, the SCF volleyball team (3-10, 3-10 Sun Lakes) will look to close their season with their final two road matches. The Manatees will first return to New Port Richey to take on Pasco Hernando State (12-11, 10-4 Sun Lakes) at the PHSC Gymnasium Wednesday night, October 30 at 6 pm before taking on St. Pete (10-8, 8-6 Sun Lakes) at the St. Pete Gibbs Campus Gymnasium Thursday afternoon, October 31 at 4 pm.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of their last three games on the road where they went 1-2. They would defeat Lake Sumter State 3-2 before falling to 3-2 to Florida State College at Jacksonville and 3-1 to St. John's River State.

Sophomore Soundoff:

While they were unable to have their 'sophomore day' match against Trinity College, sophomores Jaycie Sheean and Katrina Tallo played key roles for this season as their sophomore seasons wind down. Sheean currently has 96 kills, 14 aces, 56 digs and 13 blocks. In the game against Lake Sumter, She set career-highs in kills (13) and aces (4).

 Tallo has 28 kills, 77 digs and 16 blocks. In the last three matches, she had 28 digs and four kills.

Ultima Weapon:

Freshman Aryanna Spainhower continues to lead the way offensively and defensively for the Manatees. Spainhower currently has 170 kills, 11 aces, 192 digs and 27 blocks while putting together eight double-doubles in kills and digs. In the three matches on the road, Spainhower had a combined 59 kills, five aces, 53 digs and 13 blocks.

AK7 Setting:

Freshman Adasyn Konopka has been on the role since being named the starting setter for the remainder of the season. Konopka currently has 196 assists, 16 kills and 116 digs while putting together five double-doubles of assists and digs. In the last three matches, she had 109 assists, 10 kills and 42 digs, which included a season-high 39 assists against Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Defensive Back Line:

Freshmen Sarah Stouky, Johaliz Colon and Natalie Schwenk have played the back row defense profoundly for serve receive.

Stouky currently has 155 digs, eight aces and 13 digs in her name this season. In the match against St. John's River, she had one of her best outings in serving and defense as she had a season-high 20 digs and four aces.

Colon, who shares rotation with Stouky, currently has 143 digs, 14 assists and eight aces. In the match against St. John's River, she had three aces and 13 digs.

Schwenk, who started in the lineup the last two matches, currently has 116 digs in her name since being bumped up from walk-on to a scholarship player. Schwenk had a combined 34 digs in the last three matches.

Wildberries:

Freshmen Sabrina Calhoun, Ericka Freeman and Lily Shoemaker plays as the wildcards of the team.

Calhoun currently has 45 kills, nine aces, 56 digs and 10 blocks. She had eight kills and 12 digs in the match against St. John's River.

Freeman currently has 35 kills, 28 digs and 21 blocks. She had 13 kills, 11 digs and 13 blocks in the last three matches.

Shoemaker currently has 23 kills, 13 digs and 26 blocks, which included a combined nine blocks in the last three matches.

Scouting Pasco Hernando State:

The Bobcats are coming off of a finishing this past week 3-0 after defeating Lake Sumter 3-1 before shutting out St. John's River and Florida State College at Jacksonville 3-0. They are currently in third place in the standings and secured a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament.

Sophomore Elizabeth McDonald continues to lead the offensive onslaught for the Bobcats as she has 335 kills, 27 aces, 139 digs and 30 blocks.

Scouting St. Pete:

The Titans are coming off of finishing 2-1 in their last three matches where they shutout Florida State College at Jacksonville (3-0) and Lake Sumter (3-0) and lost 3-2 to St. John's River. They secured the final spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament.

Redshirt sophomore Ranya Mehta leads the way offensively with 204 kills and 34 blocks.

How to Keep Up:

Both games will air livestream and fans can keep with the Manatees on Twitter.

Livestream Links:

@ Pasco Hernando - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjSJASib7q8

@ St. Pete - https://athletics.spcollege.edu/broadcast/watch

SCF VB Wins Thriller Over Lake Sumter

Leesburg, Fla - After batting two hurricanes and limited practice, the SCF volleyball team (3-8, 3-8 Sun Lakes) pulled off a thrilling battle on the road as they defeated Lake Sumter State (8-11, 3-10 Sun Lakes) 3-2 (25-27, 29-27, 16-25, 25-18, 15-12).

"As a whole, the team played well," said head coach Courtney Bobo-McKenzie. "This week we focused a lot on the mental part of volleyball where we ran drills that built grit, fight and finishing. I believe

The first set became neck and neck with both teams going beyond 25 points, but two back-to-back kills by the Lakehawks gave them the first set. The second set was in similar fashion with kills from freshman Aryanna Spainhower and the set going beyond 25 points, but kills by sophomore Jaycie Sheean and freshman Adasyn Konopka kept the momentum going for the Manatees before they sealed the set after a free-ball kill by sophomore Katrina Tallo.

The third set was in the favor of the Lakehawks despite a trying comeback by the Manatees, but the Manatees would respond in the fourth set as kills by Konopka and Spainhower and a Lakehawk attack error sealed the fourth set for the Manatees and force a fifth set.

Heading into the fifth set, Sheean's serving played a vital role in the beginning as she served back-to-back aces before the Lakehawks secured their first point, but the Manatees would make up from the point with a 6-2 run thanks to kills by Spainhower and freshmen Lily Shoemaker and Ericka Freeman made it an 8-3 set before switching sides. After being up 11-4, the Lakehawks would attempt a comeback of their own and cut the Manatees lead to 13-12, but a final push and a final kill by Sheean would seal the victory for the Manatees.

It would be Spainhower that lead the way offensively as she secured her sixth double-double with a season-high 22 kills and 21 digs. She also added one ace, four assists and a season-high five blocks. Sheean would round out the order with career-highs in kills (13) and aces (4) while adding five digs.

In setting, Konopka would lead the way with her third double-double of the season as she finished with a season-high 35 assists and 14 digs to go along with a season-high seven kills and one block.

Defensively, aside from Spainhower, Stouky and freshman Johaliz Colon would lead the back row with 13 and 12 digs respectively. Stouky added three assists, while Colon added one ace and one assist. In the front row, Freeman and Shoemaker would lead with five and four blocks respectively. Freeman added five kills and six digs, while Shoemaker added three kills.

Tallo (two kills, two assists and nine digs) and freshmen Sabrina Calhoun (two kills, one ace, nine digs and one block) and Natalie Schwenk (seven digs and two assists) also contributed in the game.

Up Next:

The Manatees will continue on the road in the panhandle as they travel to Jacksonville to take on Florida State College at Jacksonville (8-16, 1-11 Sun Lakes) at the FSCJ South Campus Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, October 26 at 4:30 pm.

SCF VB Sweep South Florida State

Avon Park, Fla - The SCF volleyball team (2-7, 2-7 Sun Lakes) were able to secure their first sweep in conference play as they shutout South Florida State (2-10, 1-10 Sun Lakes) 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-20).

"I feel the team, as a whole, were starting to get it," said head coach Courtney Bobo-McKenzie. "We're starting to understand the talent an potential we have when we play together. Everything just seemed to click tonight. The morale was up, the discipline and trust amongst us was there and it worked in our favor. I'm glad we can go on the road and have a 'W' that we really needed."

“I thought we did great,” said sophomore Jaycie Sheean. “We really came together with what we had and killed it. A sweep is definitely what we needed. We've struggled this season with closing sets, so this match was a huge confidence booster. We have to keep the same focus and discipline when we face Palm Beach State tomorrow.”

“I thought the team did very well,” said freshman Natalie Schwenk. “Even though it got close at the end, we stuck together and pushed each other to win as a team. Getting a sweep over South Florida State felt amazing. After only having one win under our belts, securing a second win was a wonderful feeling. I'm hoping it motivates us to push through the rest of the season and take every step we need.

All three sets were high scoring with the Manatees continually taking aces by Sheean and freshmen Aryanna Spainhower and Johaliz Colon. Upon the second set, the Panthers tried to creep up and tie the set at 25 apiece, but back-to-back kills by Sheean and freshman Adasyn Konopka helped the second set for the Manatees.

Heading into the third and final set, the Panthers would once again try to break the Manatees' spirit of taking the match in three sets, but with one final push and final kill by freshman Sabrina Calhoun seal the sweep and the series win over the Panthers.

Spainhower would lead the way offensively as she finished with a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs to go along with an ace and one block, while Sheean tied Spainhower with a career-high 12 kills, one aces, five digs and one block.

"Switching to the outside from being a right-side hitter all season was a big change," said Sheean. "Nevertheless, I've been executing fairly well and I'm really pleased with how I played today."

Shoemaker and freshman Ericka Freeman rounded out the order with six kills each. Shoemaker lead the way in front row defense with four blocks, three digs and one ace, while Freeman had two blocks and three digs.

In setting, Konopka secured her first collegiate double-double of 28 assists and 10 digs to go along with two kills and one ace.

"Addy definitely stepped it up," said Bobo-McKenzie on Konopka. "Tonight was her first time this season running a 5/1 as the match wen by. Her confidence and connection grow with the hitters and in looking forward to see what she can bring the rest of the season."

In back row defense, apart from Spainhower's digs, sophomore Katrina Tallo lead the way with 15 digs, two blocks and one kill, while freshman Natalie Schwenk had 13 digs and classmate Johaliz Colon had 10 digs, three assists and two aces.

"I felt very confident in my play today," said Schwenk on her performance. "Even though I had a couple of missed balls, having my teammates as well as coach giving me positive motivation really pushed me to do better for them all."

Calhoun (four kills, two aces, one assists, five digs and two blocks) and freshmen Sarah Stouky (one assist and nine digs) and Nora Leonard (two digs) also contributed in the match.

Sun Lakes Conference Standings:

1. #7 Gulf Coast State (14-2, 8-0)

2. RV Palm Beach State (12-3, 7-2)

3. #10 Pensacola State (13-4, 7-2)

4. St. John's River State (13-8, 5-2)

5. Pasco Hernando State (7-10, 6-3)

6. St. Pete (7-6, 5-4)

7. Indian River State (9-7, 5-5)

8. Lake Sumter State (7-7, 2-6)

9. SCF (2-7, 2-7)

10. Florida State College at Jacksonville (5-13, 1-8)

11. South Florida State (2-10, 1-10)

Up Next:

The Manatees will wrap up their three-game road trip as they travel to Lake Worth to take on RV Palm Beach State (12-3, 7-2 Sun Lakes)  at the Elisabeth W. Erling Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, October 5 at 1 pm.