SCF Athletics Hits the Books in All Academics

Bradenton, Fla - While all the SCF student-athletes do their part on the athletic side on the courts and fields, they also continue to excel off the courts and fields and in the classroom in all of the FCSAA, with 23 listed on the NJCAA All-Academic First, Second and Third Teams. All six of the programs were recognized as NJCAA Academic Team of the Year.

Sun Lakes All-Academic Team:

Eight players from the SCF volleyball team were named to Sun Lakes All-Academic Team. Additionally, as a team, the indoor team was named one of nine NJCAA teams to receive the United States Marine Corps/AVCA Team Academic Award, while having the highest GPA amongst all indoor volleyball teams in the FCSAA.

The following players listed were named to the all-academic team:

Rachel Carroll

Caelan Cook

Emily Lyons

Bailee Perry

Shelby Pillow

Kloe Pinto

Isabella Rebimbas

Haylee Rhoads

Southern Conference Academic Team:

Seven players from the SCF basketball team, who maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher were named to the All-Academic Team in the Southern Conference:

Cobey Harraway

Josj Ijeh

Ametri Moss

Malyk Rebetez

Ronnail Tape

Skylar Wicks

Shawn Lefrense

Suncoast Conference All-Academic Team:

The list of the following players from the SCF baseball and softball teams, who maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher, were named to the Suncoast Conference Team:

Baseball - 

Erick Almonte

Brandon Clarke

Trey Clucas

Ben Gilbert

Connor Hults

Kevin Karstetter

Evan Mastromauro

Richie Morales

Liam Moreno

Preston Wetherell

Brendan Albrittain

Liam Best

Nick Romagnola

Ed Wagner

Softball - 

Brielle Bostow

Samantha Carlin

Tori Copeland

Taylor Halback

Alissa Kessler

Maddisan Noriega

Stephanie Oaks

Jordan O'Brien

Haley Rosenbaum

Karsyn Rutherford

Chantel Schurr

Olivia Seibert

Molly Starinsky

FCSAA All-Academic Team:

44 Manatees were named to the FCSAA All-Academic Team in their respective sports for maintaining a 3.3 GPA or higher. The names are as listed by sport:

Basketball -

Cobey Harraway

Josj Ijeh

Ametri Moss

Malyk Rebetez

Ronnail Tape

Skylar Wicks

Shawn Lefrense

Volleyball (Indoor and/or Beach) - 

Rachel Carroll (Indoor)

Caelan Cook (Indoor and Beach)

Emily Lyons (Indoor)

Bailee Perry (Indoor and Beach)

Shelby Pillow (Indoor)

Kloe Pinto (Indoor and Beach)

Isabella Rebimbas (Indoor and Beach)

Haylee Rhoads (Indoor)

Kaylee Forman (Beach)

Kayla Gentry (Beach)

Remi Hebert (Beach)

Baseball - 

Erick Almonte

Brandon Clarke

Trey Clucas

Ben Gilbert

Connor Hults

Richie Morales

Liam Moreno

Preston Wetherell

Brendan Albrittain

Softball - 

Brielle Bostow

Samantha Carlin

Tori Copeland

Taylor Halback

Alissa Kessler

Maddisan Noriega

Stephanie Oaks

Jordan O'Brien

Haley Rosenbaum

Karsyn Rutherford

Chantel Schurr

Olivia Seibert

Molly Starinsky

Tennis - 

Ainhoa Meili Fernandez Del Moral Perier

Ainara Vegal Rodriguez

Joanne Fernandes

Elena Baughman Sanders

Sakurako Suzuki

NJCAA All-Academic Teams:

The student-athletes who were named to the NJCAA All-Academic First Team are the one who have maintained a 4.0 or higher GPA. The following names are as listed:

Caelan Cook (Court Volleyball)

Brielle Bostow (Softball)

Taylor Halback (Softball)

Chantel Schurr (Softball)

Brandon Clarke (Baseball)

Those named on the NJCAA All-Academic Second Team maintained a GPA between 3.80-3.99:

Isabella Rebimbas (Court Volleyball)

Haylee Rhoads (Court Volleyball)

Bailee Perry (Court Volleyball)

Ainhoa Meili Fernandez Del Moral Perier (Tennis)

Elena Baughman Sanders (Tennis)

Trey Clucas (Baseball)

Lastly, student-athletes who maintained a GPA between 3.60-3.79 were named to the NJCAA All-Academic Third Team:

Kloe Pinto (Court Volleyball)

Rachel Carroll (Court Volleyball)

Emily Lyons (Court Volleyball)

Sakurako Suzuki (Tennis)

Samantha Carlin (Softball)

Maddisan Noriega (Softball)

Haley Rosenbaum (Softball)

Molly Starinsky (Softball)

Preston Wetherell (Baseball)

Cobey Harraway (Basketball)

Ronnail Tape (Basketball)

Remi Hebert (Beach Volleyball)

Congratulations to all of our student-athletes that have made these teams and continue to excel in the classroom through their academics.

SCF Tennis Wraps Up Day One in First

Tyler, Texas - The #10 SCF tennis team wrapped up day one of the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament at the Joann Medlock Murphy Tennis Center winning all six singles and and all three doubles. The Manatees would finish with 16 points and moved to first place in the standings.

While sophomore Elena Baughman Saunders secured a win via first round bye at the flight 5 singles, she will play sophomore Ivey Bruntlett (Eastern Central CC) in the second round. Bruntlett also had a first round bye.

Freshman Ainara Vegal Rodriguez would secure the win at flight 1 singles as she defeated freshman Zarina Sayed (Oakton College) 6-0, 6-1. Vegal Rodriguez will face freshman Isabela Marcante (St. Pete) in the second round. Following Vegal Rodriguez's win, sophomore Sakurako Suzuki would defeat freshman Simona Tomczak (Moraine Valley CC) with a 6-0 pair decision at the flight 2 singles. Suzuki will face #2 seed freshman Arina Babenko (Cowley College) in the next round

At flight 3 single, freshman Ainhoa Meili Fernandez Del Moral Perier defeated sophomore Lily Trucet (Central Alabama CC) 6-1, 6-2 while classmate Joanne Fernandes defeated freshman Aubrey Schultz (Moraine Valley CC) with a 6-2 pair decsion. Meili Fernandez Del Moral Perier will face sophomore Yazmin Barrios (Abraham Baldwin) in the second round, while Fernandes will take on freshman Aleesia Ciampi (St. Pete College).

In the final match, freshman Alexis Dunlap would complete the singles sweep as she would defeat freshman Lake Killman (USC Sumter) 6-1, 6-0 at the flight 6 singles. Dunlap will face Ana Vasilis (Barton CC), who received a first round bye, in the second round.

In doubles play, Baughman Sanders and Suzuki would defeat sophomore Alethea Lacroix and Kylie Willams (Mesa CC) with a 6-0 pair decision in the flight 1 singles. They will face the #4 seed duo of sophomore Isid Hernandez and freshman Alexandra Melnikova (Cowley College) in the second round.

Dunlap and freshman Natasha Beader would follow with 6-0 pair decision win over Tomczak and freshman Erica Chapan (Moraine Valley CC) at flight 3 doubles before Rodriguez and Meili wrapped it up with a 6-2, 6-0 win over sophomore Allie Johnson and freshman Maggie Savell (Jones College) at the flight 2 doubles. Dunlap and Beader will face sophomores Mariia Koroleva and Camila Neyra (Cowley College) next, while Rodriguez and Meili face Barrios and freshman Victoria Conde (Abraham Baldwin).

Points Standings (After Day One):

1.  #10 SCF (16)

2. #8 Collin College (14)

#19 USC - Sumter (14)

4. #12 Jones (12)

#13 Mississippi Gulf Coast (12)

#5 St. Pete (12)

7. #11 Weatherford (10)

8. #4 Abraham Baldwin (8)

#14 Wallace State (8)

11. #6 Barton (6)

Central Alabama CC (6)

#9 Eastern Florida State (6)

#17 Meridian CC (6)

#3 Tyler JC (6)

16. #24 East Central CC (4)

#16 Eastern Arizona CC (4)

#21 Iowa Central CC (4)

#22 Mesa CC (4)

Moraine Valley CC (4)

#7 Seward County CC (4)

22.#20  Lewis and Clark CC (2)

Mercer CC (2)

24. #2 Cowley (0)

#1 HCC (0)

Jacksonville College (0)

College of Lake County (0)

Oakton CC (0)

Sauk Valley (0)

Up Next:

Day two of the NJCAA Tennis Tournament will commence with the matches as listed:

Flight 1 singles - Rodriguez vs Marcante (East Central CC) @ 9 am EST/8 am CDT

Flight 2 singles - Suzuki vs Babenko (Cowley College) @ 9 am EST/8 am CDT

Flight 3 singles - Meili vs Barrios (Abraham Baldwin) @ 10:15 am EST/9:15 am CDT

Flight 4 singles - Fernandes vs Ciampi (St. Pete) 

Flight 5 singles - Baughman Saunders vs Bruntlett (Eastern Central CC) @ 11:30 am EST/10:30 am CDT

Flight 6 - Dunlap vs Vasilis (Barton CC) @ 11:30 am EST/10:30 am CDT

Flight 1 doubles - Baughman Saunders/Suzuki vs Hernandez/Melnikova (Cowley College) @ 12:45 pm EST/11:45 am CDT

Flight 2 doubles - Rodriguez/Meili vs Barrios/Conde (Abraham Baldwin) @ 12:45 pm EST/11:45 am CDT

Flight 3 doubles - Dunlap/Beader vs Koroleva/Neyra (Cowley College) @ 1 pm EST/ 12 pm CDT

SCF Tennis Takes Down SPC

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF tennis team (3-8, 2-4 Region 8) closed out the regular season on a good note as they defeated St. Pete College (4-5, 2-3 Region 8) 5-4 at the SCF Tennis Complex.

"Overall, the team did well to grind out a win over a gritty SPC team," said head coach Chloe Murphy. "While SPC only had four players, they competed hard and made us work for everything. It was nice getting two back-to-back conference wins for us on the plus side. It will really help us as it leads to states to give the girls some extra confidence.

Before the matches took place, Murphy recognized and honored her two sophomores for the season: Sakurako Suzuki and Elena Baughman Sanders.

"Sophomore day is always bittersweet," said Murphy. "It's fun to celebrate the sophomores, but definitely bittersweet knowing that was the last time watching them compete on our courts."

With the celebration over, doubles would commence. The Lady Titans only had four active players able to play. The duo of freshmen Alexis Dunlap and Natasha Beader would win at #3 doubles via forfeit. After Suzuki and Baughman Sanders fell 8-2 to sophomore Kanna Kobayakawa and freshman Alessia Ciampi at #1 doubles, the freshman duo of Ainara Vegal Rodriguez and Ainhoa Meili Fernandez Del Moral Perier defeated freshmen Kyoka Ueno and Ai Katsura 8-6 at #2 doubles to give the Manatees a 2-1 lead.

Singles play would then commence as Dunlap and Beader would win their matches via forfeit at #5 and #6 singles. Needing only one win in singles, Meili Fernandez Del Moral Perier would seal the deal as she defeated Ueno 6-4, 6-2 at #3 singles. Suzuki (4-6, 0-6 loss to Ciampi), Baughman Sanders (1-6, 3-6 loss to Katsura) and Vegal Rodriguez (5-7, 4-6 to Kobayakawa) would fall in their respected singles matches in the end.

Up Next:

The Manatees will have one more scrimmage with NAIA Keiser University before going states bound.

SCF Tennis Secures First Conference Win

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF tennis team (2-8, 1-4 Region 8) battled through grueling injuries, but were able to pull away with their first conference win over Eastern Florida State (7-4, 2-3 Region 8) by a score of 5-4.

"Today was awesome," said head coach Chloe Murphy. "It was nice to see the girls play and the hard work paying off in the end that we have been talking about doing what we're supposed to do on the practice court and the results speak for themselves, so it was nice for them to experience that today. We came back from a little bit of adversity, but four of the girls stepped up. It was hard seeing Jojo (Fernandes) getting injured in her singles match, which put a damper on things a little bit, but the rest of the team didn't give up and stepped in nicely to get us this win."

"I think after we lost against them earlier we had doubts," said sophomore Sakurako Suzuki. "Today, the lineup was different, so I felt like we could win easier than the last time."

"I'm really happy for us," said freshman Alexis Dunlap. "I feel like it's been a tough season, but I know all of us have been working extremely hard, so to see it pay off was really nice."

Beginning with doubles, the duo of Dunlap and freshman Joanne Fernandes defeated sophomore Luisa Renovales and freshman Lucia Lucas by a score of 8-2 on #3 doubles. After Suzuki and sophomore Elena Baughman Sanders fell 8-2 to sophomore Simona Karlsson and freshman Gloria Bacaro on #1 doubles, the freshman duo of Ainoha Meili Fernandez and Ainara Vegal Rodriguez would defeat sophomore Helena Jokanovic and freshman Emma Sanchez 8-2 at #1 doubles to give the Manatees a 2-1 lead.

As singles went underway, the Manatees would lose first one as Fernandes fell to Renovales via retire at #4 singles, but they would make it up as Vegal Rodriguez would win her match 6-2, 6-1 over Karlsson at #1 singles. Dunlap would then win her match against freshman Ksenia Krupniakova 6-0, 6-4 at #6 singles before freshman Natasha Beader fell to sophomore Paige Noble-Lucas 6-3, 6-4 at #5 singles.

"I feel like I could have done better on my singles match," said Dunlap. "The serves were not where I wanted to put them, but I pulled it together eventually and I got the win, so I know I did something right, but I wish I would have made a few more balls and make her (Krupniakova) work a little bit more for those points when they were easily given to her." 

With two matches left, Suzuki would be the hero as she defeated Bacaro 6-4, 6-2 on #2 singles before Meili Fernandez fell to Jokanovic 6-4, 0-6, 2-6 at #3 singles.

"I was playing at a good pace and use a lot more spins on the serve," said Suzuki. "I thought it was a lot better for me for me hitting the ball."

Up Next:

The Manatees will return back at home for their final home match of the season as they welcome St. Pete College (4-4, 2-2 Region 8) Monday afternoon, April 3 at 2 pm. This will also be dubbed sophomore day for Suzuki and Baughman Sanders.

SCF Tennis Secures First Win

Winter Haven, Fla - The SCF tennis team (1-6, 0-2 Region 8) were able to secure their first win of the 2023 season as they defeated NAIA Warner University (2-11, 0-1 Sun) 7-0.

Beginning with doubles, the duo of sophomore Sakurako Suzuki and freshman Ainhoa Meili Fernandez defeated sophomore Alizee Piette and freshman Victoria Belisario 6-0 at #1 doubles in under 20 minutes. The duo of sophomore Elena Baughman-Sanders and freshman Ainara Vegal Rodriguez defeated the sophomore duo of Riley Cook and Carla Schneider 7-5 at #2 doubles to secure the first point for the Manatees.

As singles went underway, the Manatees held a 3-0 lead heading in as Baughman-Sanders (#5 singles) and freshman Alexis Dunlap (#6 singles) each secured a win via forfeit. From there, Meili Fernandez defeated Belisario 6-3, 6-0 at the #3 singles at the same time as freshman Joanne Fernades defeated Schneider 6-3, 6-0 at the #4 singles to make it 5-0 SCF and claim the win.

In the last two matches, Vegal Rodriguez defeated Piette 6-0, 6-1 at the #1 singles before Suzuki sealed the shutout with a 6-1 pair decision over Cook at #2 singles.

Up Next:

The Manatees remain on the road as they travel to Orlando for the UTSA National Tournament. They will face the University of West Georgia (6-2, 2-4 GSC) Monday, March 20 at 10 am.

SCF Tennis Readies for Season Opener

Bradenton, Fla - After another strong season in the archives, the SCF tennis team will look to put 2022 in the past as they prepare for the 2023 season opener. The Manatees will open the season at home at the SCF Tennis Complex as they welcome Southeastern University (NAIA) Tuesday afternoon, January 31 at 4:30 pm. before welcoming Rollins College (NCAA DII) Wednesday afternoon, February 1 at 2 pm.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of finishing last season 7-4 overall with a 2-4 record in conference, while being ranked #6 in the nation. They would finish third in conference before traveling to Almonte Springs for the FCSAA State Tournament where they would earn an automatic qualifying bid to the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Tucson, Arizona. There they would finish in sixth place out of the 27 teams that qualified.

Meet the Team:

The team is lead by head coach and assistant athletic director Chloe Murphy. The 2014 SCF alum and former standout at the University of South Florida (USF) enters her sixth season as head coach and second season as assistant athletic director.

With a new season, it will include changes on the roster as four players have moved on play collegiate tennis at the university level, Carlotta 'Carly' Gascon Martinez (Bluefield College NAIA), Kia Carvalho-Landell (Holy Cross College NAIA) and Luna Mouton (West Georgia NCAA DII).

The Manatees were able to return two players from last season in sophomores Sakurao "Saku" Suzuki and Jenna Gusto.

Suzuki finished her freshman campaign 14-5 at #5 singles and 14-4 at #2 doubles with Lou De Freitas Bonet. She was the FCSAA Flight 5 Singles Champion before finishing as far as the semifinals in the NJCAA Women's Tennis Tournament.

Gusto played mostly in exhibition matches for the Manatees.

Murphy was able to sign six newcomers, which include freshman Ainara Vegal Rodriguez and sophomore transfer Elena Baughman Sanders (Weatherford College).

Scouting Southeastern:

The Lady Flames are lead by head coach Drew Dickens, who enters his fifth season as head coach for both the men's and women's teams.

The Lady Flames, who were ranked at #14 in the nation (NAIA), are coming off of finishing last season 14-7 overall with a 3-3 record in the Sun Conference. They would fall to then #2 Keiser (#1 seed in the tournament) in the semifinals of the Sun Conference Tennis Tournament before securing a spot in the NAIA National Tournament as an at-large bid where they would win the first round over #19 Midland University (4-0) before falling in the round of 16 to #4 LSU Alexandria (4-0).

For the start of the season, they are ranked #12 in the nation (NAIA).

Dickens will bring back the majority of the entire roster from last season. The primary returners for the Lady Flames include sophomore Martina Picardi, seniors Abigail Damon, Maria Martinez and Beatrice Letizia and grad student Priscilla Baptista.

Picardi finished her freshman campaign 13-3 overall in singles (10-2 at #1 singles; 3-1 at #2 singles) and 13-7 in doubles with Baptista (11-4 #2 doubles; 2-3 at #1 doubles). As a result of her playing, the Italian native was named the Sun Conference Player of the Year as well as a member of the All-Sun Conference First Team.

Playing all season at #6 singles, Damon finished her junior year 9-8 in singles and 6-11 in doubles (4-3 at #3 with Neleah Neiberline, 2-8 at #1 with Letizia).

Martinez was 1-0 at the #6 singles before being sidelined with an injury during the spring, however she served as a player assistant and was eventually named a recipient of the Champion of Character award for her spirit.

Letizia rotated playing between #1 and #2 singles where she had a combined 11-5 in singles (2-2 @ #1 singles, 9-3 @ #2 singles) and 3-14 with Damon at #1 and #2 doubles.

Baptista played between #3 to #5 singles where she went 10-6 overall in singles play and 12-7 in doubles with Picardi. Additionally, she was named a member of the All-Sun Lakes Conference Second Team.

Series History:

The series between SCF and Southeastern is in favor of the Manatees as they are 2-1 overall. In their last meeting, the Manatees came out on top by a score of 8-1.

How to Keep Up:

The matches will have livestats provided by ioncourt.com and will air a random match on the SCF Manatees Facebook page. Fans can keep up with the team on their social media platforms:

Livestats - https://ioncourt.com/ties/62016357c7d307efde9eebb4

Livestream - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077304367919

Social Media - 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077304367919

Instagram: @SCFtennis

Twitter: @TennisSCF

SCF Tennis Finishes Sixth at Nationals

PC: SCF Tennis Twitter (@TennisSCF)

Tucson, Ariz - The #6 SCF tennis team closed their season as they finished in the Top 10 with a sixth place finish at the NJCAA Women's Tennis Tournament at Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona. This was their eighth Top 10 finish in nationals overall and the third straight time (2019, 2021, 2022) this year.

Tyler Junior College, the defending champions, would win the entire tournament and retain the title for the second straight season and their 21st in their program history with 46 points. Hillsborough were named the runner-up for third straight year after finishing one point behind Tyler with 45 points.

With only three matches left for the Manatees, freshman Saku Suzuki would end her singles season for her first year as she fell to freshman Yeva Konnovych (Tyler JC) in the semifinals of the Flight #5 Singles by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Suzuki would finish with a record of 14-5.

In the last doubles matches, Sophomores Carlota "Carly" Gascon Martinez and Kia Carvalho-Landell fell to sophomore Destinee Martins and freshman Lauren Anzalotta (Tyler JC) 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Flight #1 doubles, while Suzuki and sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet fell to freshmen Kelly Arends and Abigail Wild (Tyler JC) 6-4, 6-3. Gascon Martinez and Carvalho-Landell would end their doubles career at 14-11 overall (10-7 in dual action), while Suzuki and De Freitas Bonet would finish at 14-4.

Flight Champions:

Singles -

1 Lauren Anzalotta (Tyler JC)

2 Destinee Martins (Tyler JC)

3 Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya (HCC)

4 Georgia Lilly Lynn Browne (SPC)

5 Esmee Andresen (HCC)

6 Jimena Ramirez (Seward County CC)

Doubles -

1 Valeria Cherfus and Naomi McKenzie (SPC)

2 Arina Gamretkaia and Olivia Pezo (HCC)

3 Esmee Andresen and Ita Habekovic (HCC)

Place	Team	Total Points
1	Tyler Junior College (TX)	46
2	Hillsborough Community College (FL)	45
3	Seward County Community College (KS)	37
4	St. Petersburg College (FL)	36
5	Cowley College (KS)	30
6	State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (FL)	28
7	Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (GA)	26
8	Weatherford College (TX)	24
9	Collin College (TX)	21
10	Barton Community College (KS)	20
11	Meridian Community College (MS)	17
12	Wallace State (AL)	16.5
13	Jones College (MS)	15.5
14	Lewis & Clark Community College (IL)	15
15	University of South Carolina Sumter (SC)	15
16	Coastal Alabama - Bay Minette (AL)	10.5
17	Eastern Arizona College (AZ)	10.5
18	Central Alabama Community College (AL)	9
19	Hinds Community College (MS)	9
20	Mesa Community College (AZ)	9
21	Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MS)	9
22	New Mexico Military Institute (NM)	9
23	Iowa Central Community College (IA)	6
24	Paradise Valley Community College (AZ)	4
25	Sauk Valley Community College (IL)	3
26	College of Lake County (IL)	0
27	Mercer County Community College (NJ)	0

SCF Tennis Keeps Moving on Day Two of Nationals

Tucson, Ariz - The SCF tennis team wrapped up day two of the NJCAA Women's Tennis Tournament at the Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona with four singles wins and three doubles wins to earn more points for their standings.

Sophomore Carlota "Carly" Gascon Martinez would fall in the second round of the Flight #1 singles as she fell to #3 seed freshman Naomi McKenzie (St. Pete) 6-3, 6-4 to close her singles season. Gascon Martinez would continue playing in doubles action. The Manatees would avenge their first loss as classmate and #5 seed Kia Carvalho-Landell, who had a first round bye, would defeat sophomore Mimi Li (Collin CC) in three sets by a score of 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals at the Flight #3 singles. Carvalho-Landell will face freshman Camille Belberka, who defeated Carolina Segura (USC Sumpter) with a 6-0 pair decision.

The Manatees would fall in their second singles match as sophomore Sarah Forsyth fell in the second round to freshman Azul Barrios (Barton CC) 6-4, 6-2 to close her singles season, but remained ready for doubles action.

The Manatees would later closes singles play as freshman Saku Suzuki, who earned a first round bye as the #2 seed, defeated sophomore Morgan Ross (Hinds CC) 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the Flight #5 singles, while classmate Jessica Bustamante, the #7 seed that also received a first round bye, defeated Anna Woods (Central Alabama CC) 6-1, 6-0 in the Flight #6 singles and sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet defeated freshman Emma Samery (Iowa Central CC) with 6-0 pair decision. Suzuki will face freshman Marija Ristanovic (Weatherford College) in the quarterfinals, while Bustamante will face freshman Yeva Kramarova (Tyler JC) and De Freitas Bonet faces Ita Habekovic (HCC).

The Manatees would earn 12 points for winning their singles matches. In doubles play, all three teams received a first round bye and advanced to the second round.

Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez (#5 seed) defeated Li and freshman Larissa Correra (Collin CC) 6-2, 6-3 at the Flight #1 doubles. They will face freshmen Jou Chen and Nicole Lafour (ABAC) in the quarterfinals.

After Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez's win, De Freitas Bonet and Suzuki (the #2 seed) defeated sophomores Isabella Warham and Sarah Cline (Meridian CC) with a 6-1 pair decision at the Flight #2 doubles. They will face sophomore Tiffany-Anne Beukes and freshman Yazmin Barrios (ABAC) in the quarterfinals.

In the final doubles match, Forsyth and sophomore Luna Mouton (the #6 seed) defeated freshman Sophie Endt and sophomore Alexandra Johnson (Jones College) 6-1, 6-2 in the second round of the Flight #3 doubles. Forsyth and Mouton will face freshmen Alejandra Sandoval and Jimena Ramirez (Seward County CC).

SCF Tennis Starts Strong at Nationals

Tucson, Ariz - The SCF tennis got off to a strong start to start day one of the four day NJCAA Women's Tennis National Tournament at the Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona. The Manatees were able to snag four points to wrap up day one.

In singles play, sophomore Carlota "Carly" Gascon Martinez (#33 in the nation) would finish the first matchup at Flight 1 singles as she defeated freshman Eni Anic (Hinds CC) 6-3, 6-0 in the first round. Gascon Martinez will take on a conference rival in St. Pete Naomi McKenzie (#4 in the nation) in the second round. McKenzie earned a first round bye after being named the #3 seed in the flight. Meanwhile Anic will move down to the consolation round of 16 after receiving a first round bye.

In the second singles match, sophomore Sarah Forsyth would sweep her opponent at the Flight 4 singles as she defeated sophomore Taji Williams (Coastal Alabama) 6-0, 6-2 in the first round. She will face #6 seed Azul Barrios (Barton CC) in the second round, while Williams moves down to the consolation round.

Sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet and Kia Carvalho-Landell and freshmen Saku Suzuki and Jessica Bustamante all earned first round bye in their respective flights and will face their first opponents tomorrow. Aditionally, all three Manatees doubles teams have earned a first round bye and will await their opponents.

Up Next:

Day two of the national tournament will commence as De Freitas Bonet, Carvalho-Landell, Suzuki and Bustamante will play their first opponents in the second round while doubles will play in the second round after their first round byes.

Day Two Schedule:

Singles - 

Flight 1 - #33 Gascon Martinez vs #4 Naomi McKenzie (#3 seed) @ 10:30 EST/ 7:30 PST

Flight 2 - #6 De Freitas Bonet (#6 seed) vs Emma Semery (Iowa Central CC) @ 12:30 pm EST/9:30 am PST

Flight 3 - #45 Carvalho-Landell (#5 seed) vs Mimi Li (Collin CC) @ 12 pm EST/9 am PST

Flight 4 - Forsyth vs Azul Barrios (Barton CC) (#6 seed) @ 1:30 pm EST/10:30 am PST

Flight 5 -#38 Suzuki (#2 seed) vs Morgan Ross (Hinds CC) @ 1:30 pm EST/11:30 am PST

Flight 6- Bustamante (#7 seed) vs Anna Woods (Central Alabama CC) @ 3:30 pm EST/12:30 pm PST

Doubles - 

Flight 1 - Gascon Martinez/Carvalho-Landell (#5 seed) vs Mimi Li/Larissa Correa (Collin CC) @ 5:30 pm EST/2:30 pm PST

Flight 2 - Suzuki/De Freitas Bonet (#2 seed) vs Isabella Warham/Sarah Cline (Meridian CC) @ 5 pm EST/2 pm PST

Flight 3 - Forsyth/Mouton (#6 seed) vs Sophie Endt/Alexandra Johnson (Jones College) @ 6 pm EST/3 pm PST

Day One Standings:

1	Barton Community College (KS)	14
2	Collin College (TX)	14
3	Lewis & Clark Community College (IL)	14
4	Meridian Community College (MS)	14
5	University of South Carolina Sumter (SC)	14
6	Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (GA)	12
7	Wallace State (AL)	12
8	Jones College (MS)	10
9	New Mexico Military Institute (NM)	8
10	Coastal Alabama - Bay Minette (AL)	6
11	Hinds Community College (MS)	6
12	Mesa Community College (AZ)	6
13	Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MS)	6
14	Weatherford College (TX)	6
15	Central Alabama Community College (AL)	4
16	Iowa Central Community College (IA)	4
17	Paradise Valley Community College (AZ)	4
18	State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (FL)	4
19	Cowley College (KS)	2
20	Eastern Arizona College (AZ)	2
21	Sauk Valley Community College (IL)	2
22	St. Petersburg College (FL)	2
23	College of Lake County (IL)	0
24	Hillsborough Community College (FL)	0
25	Mercer County Community College (NJ)	0
26	Seward County Community College (KS)	0
27	Tyler Junior College (TX)	0

SCF Tennis Readies for Nationals

Bradenton, Fla - After a hard fought moment, the #6 SCF tennis team will be setting their sights on their next milestone. The Manatees will travel 2,082 mile to the west as they head to Tucson, Arizona for the five-day NJCAA National Women's Tennis Championship at the Reffkin Tennis Center. Matches begin from May 7-11.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of automatically qualifying for nationals after finishing third in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament in Almonte Springs. They would finish behind runner-up #3 St. Pete and the champions #2 Hillsborough. It would be the backdraw wins in singles competition that would help the Manatees get the automatic qualifier.

In singles play, freshman Sakurako Suzuki leads the way for the Manatees. Suzuki, who joined the Manatees in the spring, is currently ranked #38 in the nation while currently going 10-4 overall at the #5 singles spot. At the FCSAA State Tournament, she was the lone player that won all of her matches at the #5 singles spot and became the #5 flight singles champion. Additonally, Suzuki was named this years SCF Female Athlete of the Year.

Sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet is 8-6 at the #2 singles spot, while being ranked #23 in the nation and #5 in the state

In doubles, Suzuki and De Freitas Bonet are ranked #12 in the nation and are currently are 11-3 at the #2 spot. They finished runner-up at the #2 doubles championship after losing to HCC.

Sophomore Kia Carvalho-Landell, who is ranked #6 in the state and #45 in the nation, follows behind Suzuki in singles as she is currently 9-4 at the #3 singles spot. She finished third at the #3 singles championship after defeating freshman Helena Jokanovic (Eastern Florida State) 8-2.

In doubles play, Carvalho-Landell is also ranked #18 in the nation with fellow classmate Carlota Gascon Martinez as they are 7-7 at the #1 doubles spot. Gascon Martinez is currently ranked #33 in the nation despite going 4-9 at the #1 singles spot.

Moving On:

Three of the sophomores have already signed and committed to the next level in their collegiate tennis careers.

Carvalho-Landell will continue her path at Holy Cross College (NAIA) in Notre Dame, Indiana (suburb of South Bend, Indiana) with up to three years of eligibility remaining. The Saints finished their season at 8-14 overall with a 3-3 record in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Confernce (CCAC) before falling in the semifinals of the CCAC Tournament.

Gascon Martinez will be transferring to Blue Mountain College (NAIA) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Toppers finished their current season 5-6 overall with a 3-3 record in the Southern State Athletic Conference (SSAC) where they fell in the opening round of the SSAC Tournament.

Sophomore Luna Mouton, who primarily played doubles with classmate Sarah Forsyth, will continue her collegiate tennis career at the University of West Georgia (NCAA DII) with up to three years of eligibility remaining. She is currently 8-4 in doubles play with Forsyth at #3 doubles. Additionally, Mouton will join and reunite with former Manatee Karla Menendez. The Wolves finished their season 5-12 overall with a 1-9 record in the Gulf South Conference.

Teams Entered and Qualified:

Aside from SCF, 28 teams have qualified for the tournament -
#1 Tyler JC (Region 14)**

#2 HCC (Region 8)

#3 SPC (Region 8)

#4 Seward County CC (Region 6)

#5 Cowley College (Region 6)

#6 SCF (Region 8)

#7 Weatherford (Region 5)

#8 Collin CC (Region 5)

#10 Abraham Baldwin (Region 17)

#11 Barton CC (Region 6)

#12 Jones College (Region 23)

#13 Iowa Central (Region 11)

#14 Wallace CC (Region 22)

#15 Lewis and Clark CC (Region 24)

#16 Meridian CC (Region 23)*

#17 Mississippi Gulf Coast (Region 23)

#18 Central Alabama (Region 22)

#19 Hinds CC (Region 23)

#20 Eastern Arizona (Region 1)

#22 Coastal Alabama (Region 22)

#25 Mesa College (Region 1)

Paradise Valley (Region 1)

College of Lake County (Region 4)

Sauk Valley CC (Region 4)

New Mexico Military (Region 5)

Southwest Virginia (Region 10)

USC Sumpter (Region 10)

Mercer County CC (Region 19)

*At-Large

** Defending Champions

***Host

Tyler Junior College are the reigning and defending champions and ranked #1 in the nation. They finished their regular season 11-4 overall.

Opening Match Draws:

De Freitas Bonet, Carvalho-Landell, Suzuki and Bustamante all earned a first round bye for singles play and will play their first matches on May 8. In doubles, all three doubles teams have earned a first round bye and will play on May 8.

Singles -

Flight 1 - #33 Gascon Martinez vs Eni Anic (Hinds CC) @ 10:30 am EST/7:30 am PST May 7

Flight 2 - #23 De Freitas (#6 seed) vs Emma Semery (Iowa Central CC) or Haley Quick (Lake County CC) 12:30 pm EST/9:30 am PST May 8

Flight 3 - #45 Carvalho-Landell (#5 seed) vs Mimi Li (Collin CC) or Jane League (Central Alabama) @ 12 pm EST/9 am PST May 8

Flight 4 - Forsyth vs Taji Williams (Coastal Alabama) @ 1:30 pm EST/11:30 am PST May 7

Flight 5 - #38 Suzuki (#2 seed) vs Lex Sneek (Sauk Valley CC) or Morgan Ross (Hinds CC) @ 1:30 pm EST/11:30 am PST May 8

Flight 6 - Bustamante (#7 seed) vs Kylie Williams (Mesa CC) or Anna Woods (Central Alabama CC) @ 3:30 pm EST/12:30 pm PST May 8

Doubles -

Flight 1 - Carvalho-Landell/Gascon Martinez (#5 seed) vs Mimi Li/Larissa Correa (Collin CC) or Mia Hoddinghaus/Sarah Powell (Jones College) @ 5:30 pm EST/2:30 pm PST May 8

Flight 2 - Suzuki/De Freitas Bonet (#2 seed) vs Isabella Warham/Sarah Cline (Meridian CC) or Breanna Vann/Natalia Barron (Wallace State CC) @ 5 pm EST/2 pm PST May 8

Flight 3 - Forsyth/Mouton (#6 seed) vs Taji Williams/Emma Spears (Coastal Alabama) or Sophie Endt/Alexandra Johnson (Jones College) @ 6 pm EST/3 pm PST May 8.

SCF Tennis Dances To Nationals!!!

Altamonte Spring, Fla - The dreams of nationals for the #6 SCF tennis team will come true for them as they automatically qualified for the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Tucson, Arizona for the second straight season after finishing in third place in the FCSAA (NJCAA Region 8) State Tournament at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs.

"Overall, the team came out and got the job done," said head coach Chloe Murphy. We fought hard and came up big. Punching your ticket feels great, knowing you worked for it and get the reward in the end. It's why we do what we do day in and day out."

Singles Play:

In the morning singles, five of the Manatees would fall in their singles matches and move to the backdraw round. Freshman Saku Suzuki would be the only Manatee to advance to the finals where she would defeat freshman Esmee Andersen (HCC) in the finals by a score of 6-3, 6-4 to win the Flight #5 singles.

"For the third time this season, Saku had to play the same opponent and for the first time she beat her" said Murphy on Suzuki's win. "She made the adjustments she needed to make and held her nerve in the second set. I'm extremely proud of her."

Meanwhile in the remaining singles, sophomores Kia Carvalho-Landell (#30) and Sarah Forsyth and freshman Jessica Bustamante would finish third in their matches after falling in the first match. Carvalho-Landell would then defeat freshman Helena Jokanovic (Eastern Florida State) 8-2 at the #3 singles, while Forsyth defeated freshman Dana Bryan (Eastern Florida State) 8-0 and Bustamante defeated freshman Paige Lucas (Eastern Florida State) 8-5.

Doubles Play:

In doubles play, Suzuki and sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet would advance to the finals at the Flight #2 doubles before they fell to freshmen Arina Gamretkaia and Olivia Pezo (HCC) 6-4, 6-3. Forsyth and sophomore Luna Mouton (#17 nationally) defeated freshmen Paige Lucas and Luisa Renovales Salazar (SPC) in the third place match at the Flight #3 doubles by a score of 8-3.

Final Tournament Standings:

1. #2 HCC

2. #3 SPC

3. #6 SCF

4. #10 EFSC

Notes:

#2 Hillsborough would win the FCSAA State Championship overall while #3 St. Pete was the runner-up.

#10 Eastern Florida State will await to see if they qualify as an at-large bid for the national tournament.

Sophomore Naomi McKenzie (SPC), who was the champion at the Flight #1 singles, would be named the FCSAA Tennis Player of the Year.

HCC head coach Sarah Summerfield would win the FCSAA Coach of the Year for her third straight year. HCC has won the FCSAA Coach of the Year for the fifth straight year.

The FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 All-State Team was also announced with the following names in both singles and doubles:

singles -

Naomi McKenzie (SPC) - #1 singles champion

Valeria Cherfus (SPC) - #2 singles champion

Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya (HCC) - #3 singles champion

Mbali Langa (HCC) - #4 singles champion

Saku Suzuki (SCF) - #5 singles champion

Camilla Mitolo (HCC) - #6 singles champion

Doubles -

Zhadzinskaya and Langa (HCC) - #1 doubles champions

Gamretkaia and Pezo (HCC) - #2 doubles champions

Andersen and Ita Habekovic (HCC) - #3 doubles champions

Up Next:

The Manatees journey of national fame continues as they will head to Tucson, Arizona for the five-day NJCAA Women's Tennis Tournament May 7-11. The opponents will vary on the seedings and whom will get a first-round bye.

SCF Tennis Close Season with Win Over Warner

Bradenton, Fla - The #6 SCF tennis team (7-4, 2-4 Region 8) wrapped up the regular season at home as they shutout NAIA Warner University (2-12, 0-5 Sun) 9-0 at the SCF Tennis Complex.

"Today was awesome,"  said head coach Chloe Murphy. "It was fun to celebrate the sophomore before the match where we decorated the courts and give them gifts. It's been a special group where we have been through the ups and downs from the shortened COVID year to going to nationals last year and they come out and perform this year, which was the icing on the cake."

Beginning with doubles, the duo of sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet and Sakurako Suzuki defeated the freshman duo of Riley Cook and Alizee Piette 8-1 at #3 doubles. After the sophomore duo of #17 Sarah Forsyth and Luna Mouton defeated sophomore Karen Alves and freshman Carla Schneider 8-1 at #3 doubles, the sophomore duo of #4 Kia Carvalho-Landell and Carlota Gascon Martinez defeated senior Danieris Santiago and freshman Camila Matos 8-3 at #1 doubles for a 3-0 SCF lead. 

"I'm happy with my match with Sarah, which was better than yesterday," said Mouton. "We knew it was the last one at home and we just tried to enjoy it and do our best to win and I'm happy that we win."

As singles play commenced, the Manatees only needed two to win the entire matchup and end on a good note. Freshman Jessica Bustamante would defeat Alves 6-0, 6-1 at #6 singles before Suzuki landed the dagger against Schneider with a 6-0 pair decision at #5 singles. Bustamante would move up to 5-6 while Suzuki moved to 8-4.

Singles play continued for the remaining matches as Carvalho-Landell would defeat Cook with a 6-1 pair decision at #3 singles.

"The girl (Cook) was very strong and aggressive with her backhand," said Carvalho-Landel on her match. "One of things I had to do in the first set was keep the ball in the court and have her make mistakes. In the second set, we fought hard and I just waited for her to make the mistake. I'm just so happy that I won my match."

Following that, De Freitas would defeat Santiago 6-4, 6-1 at #2 singles.

"I thought I did ok," said De Freitas Bonet. "The first set was hard with my serving and a lot of my returns were out, but I found the solution in myself when I was down 4-3 and it was my serve and I just hit four in a row and I thought I should change something and it worked to help me win my last home match."

Forsyth would then defeat Piette 6-0, 6-1 at #5 singles before Gascon Martinez, who was forced to a third set, completed the sweep by defeating Matos 6-2, 7-5, 10-1 at #1 singles.

"I think we played well compared to our last match," said Forsyth. "We had a lot more energy and we came together as a team. We played well together knowing that it was our last match of the season. At the end of Carly's match, we supported her."

"I felt so supportive with my team by my side," said Gascon Martinez. "Obviously when I won the first set it was easy, but during the second set, I complicated myself in the second set and not play the same, which was worse but at the end of the day, I won my last home match of the season."

Notes:

The matchup for the Manatees was dubbed as 'sophomore day' for the five sophomores: De Freitas Bonet, Forsyth, Mouton, Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez.

"They performed well in both singles and doubles," said Murphy on her sophomore day. "Courts two and three got the job quick while court one had to fight off being down 3-0 and won eight games. Most of the matches were pretty routine with the exception match one and Carly did a good job recomposing herself and finishing strong in the third set, so I couldn't be happier, especially being the last home match for the sophomores."

Region 8 Standings*:

1. #2 HCC (9-1, 6-0)^

2. #3 SPC (7-4, 4-2)

3. #6 SCF (7-4, 2-4)

4. EFSC (2-7, 0-6)

*The standings are a guess and are unofficial.

^Region 8 Regular Season Champions

Up Next:

The Manatees will play in one final scrimmage as they travel to Palm Beach to take on Palm Beach Atlantic (6-10, 1-7 SSC) Saturday afternoon, April 9 at 2 pm at the Mitch Gornto Tennis Center. Following the scrimmage, the Manatees will travel to Altamonte Springs for the FCSAA Region 8 Tournament at SanLando Park April 14-16.

SCF Tennis Closes Conference Play With Win vs EFSC

Bradenton, Fla - The #6 SCF tennis team (6-4, 2-4 Region 8) wrapped up their portion of conference play as they defeated #10 Eastern Florida State (2-5, 0-4 Region 8) 5-4 at the SCF Tennis Complex. It is the Manatees first sweep in conference play.

Beginning with doubles, the #4 sophomore duo of Kia Carvalho-Landell and Carlota Gascon Martinez defeated the duo of sophomore Kayla Greco and freshman Kanna Kobayakawa 8-1 at #1 doubles. Sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet and freshman Saku Suzuki would follow with an 8-3 win against the freshman duo of Simona Karlsson and Luisa Renovales at #2 doubles before the sophomore duo of #17 Luna Mouton and Sarah Forsyth fell to the freshman duo of Paige Noble-Lucas and Luisa Renovales Salazar 8-6 at #3 doubles. It would be 2-1 in favor of SCF.

As singles play commenced, Suzuki would quickly finish first as she defeated Renovales with 6-0 pair decision at #5 singles. De Freitas Bonet would follow with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Greco at #2 singles before Carvalho-Landell (#30) defeated Karlsson 6-0, 6-3 at #3 singles for the final dagger and put the Manatees up 5-1.

Singles play continued as Forsyth would fall to Lucas 6-1, 6-2 at #4 singles before Gascon Martinez (#33) fell to Kobayakawa in a 6-2 pair decision at #1 singles and freshman Jessica Bustamante fell to Noble-Lucas 4-6, 6-3, 0-1 in three sets at the #6 singles.

Notes:

The win over Eastern Florida State puts the Manatees in third place in conference.

Region 8 Standings:

1. #2 HCC (8-1, 5-0)*

2. #3 SPC (6-4, 3-2)

3. #6 SCF (6-4, 2-4)

4. #10 EFSC (2-5, 0-4)

*Likely Regular Season Champions

Up Next:

The Manatees will wrap up the regular season at home as they welcome Warner University (2-11, 0-5 Sun) Wednesday afternoon, April 6 at 2 pm. It will be dubbed as sophomore day for Carvalho-Landell, Gascon Martinez, Forsyth, De Freitas and Mouton. Kathrin Didovich will also be recognized for sophomore day.

SCF Tennis Defeat West Georgia

Murphy Reunited with Karla Mendez (left) and Camile Portlaier (right) 

Bradenton, Fla - The #6 SCF tennis team (5-2, 1-2 Region 8) were able to recover from a conference loss as they defeated the University of West Georgia (2-6, 0-4 GSC) 7-2 at the SCF Tennis Complex. The Manatees will face #2 Hillsborough (5-1, 3-0 Region 8) Friday afternoon, March 25 at noon.

"Overall, I'm extremely happy with the team's performance today," said head coach Chloe Murphy. "For the most part in the matches, the girls have shown they have done extremely well in doubles with a sweep, which really set the tone moving on into singles. The first two courts in doubles were convincing and gratifying to see the ladies working hard yesterday with an appearance by legendary tennis coach Betsy McCormack come out to do a doubles day with them and they executed what she worked with them on yesterday and it was perfect to see that. We competed hard in singles by playing smart tennis and got the win today. I'm happy we bounced back from the loss against HCC, but I'm excited to get another crack at them on Friday."

"I thought we did a pretty good job in both doubles and singles today," said sophomore Carly Gascon Martinez. "In my case, I was so focused on trying to focus on my attitude and energy while trying to cheer on my teammates and I think we all did a good job on that."

"I thought the team's performance was good and we had a lot of energy than our last matchup," said sophomore Sarah Forsyth. "We were kind of slow in our last matchup and weren't cheering each other on and bringing the energy with our attitudes, but we all came out from the start in doubles with a lot more energy and cheering for each other. If we lost a point or played a bad point, we cheer for each other and get back up, which was good and better than our previous match."

"I think we did a great job today," said sophomore Luna Mouton. "Everyone was focused and trying their best. The communication in doubles was very good."

Beginning with doubles, the duo of sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet and freshman Saku Suzuki defeated the sophomore duo Perrine Blanchon and Elle Jones at #2 doubles by a score of 8-1. After #17 Forsyth and Mouton defeated senior Katarina Karm and junior Kennedy Lewis 8-2 at #3 doubles, Gascon Martinez and sophomore Kia Carvalho-Landell (#4 nationally) defeated grad student Camile Portalier and junior Karla Menendez 8-2 at #1 doubles for a clean sweep and a 3-0 SCF lead.

"I thought our doubles match was good," said Forsyth on the doubles match with Mouton. "Me and Luna started off good playing simple tennis and just hitting the ball across court and then being ready at the net when they came at us and anytime we lost points, it was just on our rackets that we were making stupid mistakes, but mostly we forced them to make mistakes and then hit winners. We tried to go to each other every time and like high five say 'good return or good serve', we had good communication with each other."

"Me and Kia were like trying to play simple tennis and cross court while figuring out how to finish the points or make them make a mistake on us," said Gascon Martinez on her doubles match with Carvalho-Landell. "So we tried it and it worked out pretty good."

Only needing two singles matches to for the win, freshman Jessica Bustamante would defeat Karm 6-0, 6-2 at #6 singles before Gascon Martinez (#33) defeated Portalier 6-2, 6-0 at #1 singles to claim the series.

"I was pretty nervous playing in singles," said Gascon Martinez. "It's different between doubles and singles because you have more court awareness in doubles, so I was nervous but then when I was playing, I was like 'ok, I'm not making as many mistakes' and I just kept going and just played simple tennis with my good and tried not to make more than I needed to."

"Carly did a great job today," said Murphy on Gascon Martinez. "She played smart tennis and kept her emotions in check and did what she needed to do to win."

With singles playing still continuing, Suzuki would win her match against Lewis by a score of 6-2, 6-1 at #5 singles before the Wolves took their first point as Forsyth would fall to Blanchon at #4 singles via retire. In the final two matches, De Freitas Bonet (#12) would defeat Menendez 6-2, 6-0 at #2 singles before Carvalho-Landell (#30) fell to Jones in three sets (5-7, 6-3, 10-7).

Side Note:

"Awkward" would be the best word to describe the matchup for Murphy and the returning players from last season. The reason being, primarily for Murphy, was reuniting with Portalier and Mendez as both have played under Murphy's wing before transferring to West Georgia (Portalier: 2017-19; Mendez 2019-21). Murphy said she tried not to coach on either courts one or two (Gascon Martinez vs Portalier on court one; De Freitas Bonet vs Menendez on court two) due to the fact that she coached both Portalier and Mendez.

"It's interesting having two former players come back to face us and I was trying my not to coach on courts one and two and let the girls play," said Murphy on the match with her former players. "It was difficult to go with former players and it felt awkward, but both Karla and Cami played really good matches on their courts against us and it was good to see them back."

Despite playing against them, Murphy found it amazing to reunite with them even if they were on the opposite side of the court.

"It was amazing to see them," said Murphy on reuniting with her former players. "They always hold a special place in your heart when they move on and you wish you could keep them a little longer, but they're in a great spot with a great program and I was super happy to see them and vice versa. It was a little weird on the other side of the court with them, but it was good to have them back here."

Murphy wasn't the only one that faced the awkward situation as Mouton, Gascon Martinez, Carvalho-Landell and De Freitas Bonet have faced similar challenges. Gascon Martinez faced off against Menendez in the past when she played at Easter Florida State.

"In doubles, it was awkward because I played against Karla last year and it was more recent," said Gascon Martinez on facing Menendez. "It was good because me and Kia (Carvalho-Landell) took it serious, but at the same time it didn't feel the same because it was not like competition and everything. It was good for me, but for Kia it was worse because they were teammates last year."

"I didn't even know that Cami (Portalier) played with SCF two years when I faced her in singles today," said Gascon Martinez on facing Portalier. "But it was a good match with her."

For Mouton, she stated it was not easy for her even when wanting to win the match.

"I know we have to cheer and everything, but it was quite hard because I can't cheer against someone who was on my team and is my friend," said Mouton. "So I was there with the team, but I was just really quiet."

Truthfully, I can relate to what coach Murphy, Carvalho-Landell, De Freitas Bonet, Forsyth and Mouton on being in situations when someone has friends they have known for a long time and they play against a old school they both went to. It's a very tricky situation.

Other Region 8 Scores:

#2 HCC fell to NCAA DII Nova Southeastern 8-1.

Region 8 Standings:

1. #2 HCC (5-1, 3-0)

2. #3 SPC (4-3, 1-1)

3. #6 SCF (5-2, 1-2)

4. #10 EFSC (2-3, 0-2)

Upcoming Region 8 Weekly Schedule:

3/24:

#3 SPC vs #10 EFSC @2 pm

3/25:

#10 EFSC vs Flagler @2 pm (Exhibition)

4/1:

#3 SPC vs #2 HCC @12 pm

SCF Tennis Tames ABAC

Bradenton, Fla - The #6 SCF tennis team (4-1, 1-1 Region 8) were pushed hard in their singles matches as they defeated #9 Abraham Baldwin (3-7) 7-2 at home. The Manatees are now 5-0 against the Lady Stallions overall. The Lady Stallions also played #2 Hillsborough (3-0, 2-0 Region 8) where they fell by a score of 8-1.

“Doubles was a really good performance by the girls today,” said head coach Chloe Murphy. “They came off the bats really quick. It was simple and effective quality tennis and didn’t over complicate things and got on and off the court quickly, which I was very happy with. In singles, we made things a little more difficult for ourselves on quite a few courts. I was happy for those who came back to get the win, but we have to make sure we don’t put ourselves into those situations.”

“I think overall we played really well in our matches,” said freshman Jessica Bustamante. “We all came out and played the way we played and it worked out for us.”

“I think we did a really good job in doubles based on our energy today and we didn’t struggle in it,” said sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet. “As far as our singles, some of us didn’t have the best attitudes, but overall it was still a good match. We tried our best and gave everything we had on the court.”

Beginning with doubles, the sophomore duo of #4 Kia Carvalho-Landell and Carly Gascon Martinez defeated sophomore Tiffany-Anne Beukes and freshman Jou-Chen Chen 8-0 at #1 doubles. The duo of sophomore Lou De Freitas Bonet and freshman Sakurako Suzuki would follow by defeating the freshman duo of Yazmin Barrios and Nicole Dufour 8-2 at #2 double before the sophomore duo of Sarah Forsyth and Luna Mouton (#17 in the Nation) defeated sophomore Ellie Black and freshman Patricia Principal 8-1 at #3 doubles to complete the sweep. De Freitas Bonet and Suzuki would move to 5-0 in doubles play.

As singles play commenced, the Lady Stallions would get their first point as Gascon Martinez would fall to Dufour at the #1 singles spot by a score of 6-2 6-3 before Suzuki defeated Beukes 6-3, 6-0 at the #5 singles spot. Carvalho-Landell, who was having a difficult first set, would seal the series point as she defeated Barrios 0-6, 6-1, 7-5 at #3 singles.

With four singles matches remaining, freshman Jessica Bustamante would take her match at #6 singles as she defeated freshman Lilla Jerry 6-3, 6-4. The Lady Stallions would get their second point as Forsyth would fall to Black 7-5, 2-6, 10-5 at #4 singles before De Freitas Bonet (#12) defeated Chen in threes set at #2 singles by a score of 7-5, 6-7, 10-6 for the final match.

“My match was a tough one because it was pretty close,” said Bustamante on her match. “I had to be the last one to get the point, which could have gone the other way and I just playing my game the entire time consistently, which was how I was able to get the win.”

“The first set was really tight and I was glad I won that one,” said De Freitas Bonet on her singles match. “When the second set started, I was up 4-0 until I started making some mistakes  and couldn’t finish it and she (Chen Chen) ended up winning the second set. Once the tiebreaker in the third set started, I knew I had to win and I did when I changed up my attitude.”

Region 8 Standings:

1. #2 HCC (3-0, 2-0)

2. #6 SCF (4-1, 1-1)

3. #3 SPC (4-3, 1-1)

4. #10 EFSC (1-3, 0-2)

Up Next:

The Manatees will resume Region 8 Conference play as they travel to Tampa to take on #2 Hillsborough (3-0, 2-0 Region 8) Sunday afternoon, March 13 at noon at the HCC Tennis Center.