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| 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
