EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. – Senior outside hitter Olivia Mlikotin and junior opposite Caroline Foraker totaled 32 and 39 kills in four matches, respectively, while combining for 23-1-39 hitting in a three-set win over Folsom as St. Francis split its matches in the varsity edition of the Christine Craft Memorial tournament at Oak Ridge High Saturday.

The Troubadours move to 11-6 for the season.

The Christine Craft tourney, named in memory of a former Trojan volleyball standout, also featured a preview of the "Holy Court" rivalry match with Christian Brothers, as the two teams squared off to close out pool play in Saturday's early afternoon slate. The Troubies and Falcons will meet again on October 15, as host CB has finalized the location as Cosumnes River College.

Oddly, three of the opposing teams in Saturday's lineup are nicknamed the Bulldogs: Vacaville, Folsom and Tracy. St. Francis opened Saturday's tournament with a 25-20, 25-21 sweep of Vacaville, then dispatched Folsom in split sets, 21-25, 25-18, 15-3. The Troubies then fell to CB by scores of 18-25, 25-21, 15-4, before dropping a three-set matchup with Tracy, 18-25, 25-23, 15-6 in the first round of bracket play.

Mlikotin had 12 kills with just two errors en route to a .435 hitting average in the opener with Vacaville, while Foraker added a 9-3-24 line on the attacking front. Foraker also had a pair of aces in a 5-0 run that broke open the first set against VHS. The two teams battled as late as 20-20 in the second frame, but Foraker's slide kicked off a 4-1 finish for the Troubies. Middle blocker Sophia Garza fired three kills in that final stretch to complete the sweep.

The trio of Foraker, Garza and Mlikotin continued to roll in the win over Folsom, combining for 30 kills against just two attacking errors. Setter Kelsey Magley had 29 assists to go with her five aces, distributing balls to the tune of a team .370 average. St. Francis stumbled in the first set to a 20-13 deficit but eventually fought its way back to a three-point margin on a Garza slide at 23-20. Senior Charlise Rowe put down a kill to hold off set point at 24-21, but Kelly Wong won a joust at center tape to give the Bulldogs their initial match lead.

The Troubies hit the gas midway through the second, with Foraker posting two kills and two block assists (with Amanda Silber) during a run of eight unanswered, turning a 10-9 deficit into a 17-10 lead. Overall, Foraker had eight of her 15 kills in that second stanza, then Magley had blocks for the final two points to equalize the match at 1-1. Foraker had three more kills in the third, helping SF cruise to a 15-2 win.

However, the CB matchup began a rough patch for St. Francis, which hit minus-.120 in the three games. Foraker was the lone bright spot offensively, hitting 12 of her team's 17 kills. The Troubies did perform well at the service line with 12 total aces, mostly in the first set win. Mlikotin had two such serves in the final two points of that frame.

The Falcons enjoyed a 13-2 run to craft a 20-11 advantage in the second, although St. Francis managed to battle back to a three-point, 22-19 deficit on a CB shot into the net. A tip by Foraker and a Magley/Garza stuff block also kept that margin at three, but the Troubies could not cut it further. Falcon sophomore Sydney Wallin spoiled the comeback effort with her game-winner at 25-21.

Unfortunately for SF, the hitting woes that plagued the second set continued into the third: the Troubies suffered nine unforced errors in falling, 15-4, in the rubber set.

Unforced errors played a part on both sides of the net in the three-set loss to Tracy. St. Francis had 21 kills but also 17 attacking errors en route to a hitting rate of .048. Mlikotin led the Troubies with 10 kills, half of which came in the 25-18 win in the opener. SF managed to stay reasonably close to Tracy in the second despite very few points of its own accord. At the 16-11 mark of that set, only the second and sixth Troubie points came from their own doing: a Magley ace and a Rowe roll shot. Silber changed that trend with a big solo stuff, then she joined forces with Foraker and Magley for two more blocks to close the gap to 22-19. But Tracy senior Chloe Lemons tooled SF's front line for a 24-23 set point, then her own net defense came up with 25th to tie the match at 1-1.

St. Francis never challenged in the third set, with more unforced errors resulting in a 9-2 hole. Lemons and senior outside hitter Jianna Palmer scored kills to add to that lead in taking a nine-point victory in the finale. Libero Jackie Smith highlighted the Troubie side of the boxscore with 17 digs and five service aces. 

Saturday's tourney was the last of three Christine Craft Memorial Invitationals of the year. The Troubie frosh squad, or half of it, won the Silver Bracket title back on August 20; then the St. Francis jayvees advanced to the Gold championship before losing to the host Trojans on September 3.

All three teams return to action in a home Delta League tripleheader against Elk Grove on Tuesday. Match times are 4:30 (frosh), 5:30 (JV) and 6:30 (varsity). Tickets are available at GoFan at https://gofan.co/app/school/CA8032.