Photo by Phil Roina.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis volleyball team fought off to two set points and overcame a 23-17 in the fourth to close out league rival Cosumnes Oaks 3-1 to advance to the Sac-Joaquin Section final Saturday. The Troubadours needed four sets to reach their third straight Division I section final, winning 25-15, 25-13, 20-25, 32-30.
"It was a battle," said Head Coach Alynn Wright, who will lead her team to a 20th section final under her tutelage. "Cosumnes Oaks played a really good game. They were scrappy and determined and gave us a good run. I was proud of the fight the girls gave tonight."
St. Francis (35-2), the top seed, will play No. 3 Oak Ridge on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Natomas High School. It is a rematch of the 2018 final. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and military and $5 for students.
"I am really proud of them pursuing their goal and fight to get there," said Wright. "Oak Ridge is a very good team and is well coached. We have our work cut out for us."
St. Francis, who had beat the Wolfpack twice during the regular season, won the first two sets 25-15, 25-13. But the momentum swung in the third when it looked like SF would sweep.
"We stopped going for things," said Wright. "And they fought. We needed to respond and we took a while to respond."
CO took the third 25-20 and led 23-17 in the fourth when SF rallied to close it out.
"We had a UCV (Unconventional Volleyball) and it was a momentum burst," said Edwards, who had a double-double with 24 kills and 20 digs.
Edwards credited junior Lauren Patella for kick-starting the rally. They tied it at 23 and then went back-and-forth with the Wolfpack exchanging set points. SF fought off two set points and lost three match points before closing it out 32-30.
"We were determined and had this fire in our gut that didn't let us quit or give up," said junior Danica Nelson, who had 24 digs in the contest. "We wanted to win that game to prove to ourselves that we can come back."
Patella added 16 kills for the Troubies and Ashley Magley had 11 kills. Julia Zara contributed 10 digs.
