By Pat Clines
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.