SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior middle blocker Lily Zeff hit an errorless 7-for-10 with six blocks, senior outside hitter Olivia Mlikotin and junior opposite Caroline Foraker each finished with a team-leading eight kills, libero Jackie Smith picked up 14 digs, and junior setter Kelsey Magley ran the offense to an efficiency rate of .311, as St. Francis swept Christian Brothers, 25-14, 25-14, 25-15, in the varsity finale of a "Holy Court" prep volleyball tripleheader at Cosumnes River College Saturday night.
The matchup featured the two major private-school girls' volleyball teams in the Sacramento area, and saw straight-set wins for the Troubadours at all levels. The SF frosh won its opener by scores of 25-9, 25-15; while the Troubie junior varsity scored a 25-18, 25-13 victory in the second match of the evening.
Zeff had four of her blocks in a 10-0 outburst in the second set of the varsity win. Mlikotin committed only one attacking error on 20 swings, while serving up two aces and collecting 11 digs. Foraker also contributed heavily on net defense, fishing with five total blocks. Magley posted 29 assists while also serving three of her team's seven aces. As a team, the Troubies hit 33 kills with just 10 errors on 74 attempts en route to the .311 hitting average.
SFHS head coach Alynn Wright credits the net defense for taking a huge step forward from a disappointing loss at Pleasant Grove and a muted win at Sheldon earlier in the week. "It all starts with the block. Our block was huge tonight," said Wright. "They did a really good job. We scouted [CB] really well, so we knew the tendencies of the hitters. We put ourselves in good position for blocks, which then set up the back row for success. It was fun to see the kids follow through on a game plan."
"The passing was better tonight, even defensively. We were getting a lot of good digs, which allowed Kelsey to mix the offense up, which kept them off balance. Often, we were getting one-on-one, or one against a good-sized hole. And I thought we served well tonight. I thought if we could get them out of system, it was to our advantage."
Foraker's block dominated the first set, as she teamed with Sophia Garza for a stuff, then with Zeff for back-to-back. Zeff and Garza also combined on five kills in the opener. Then Zeff's net play marked the 10-0 start to the second, with Mlikotin also knocking down three kills in that stretch. CB's Kimora McKechnie highlighted a run of five unanswered points with back-to-back aces, cutting the Troubie lead to 16-8. But SF enjoyed a kill from an unlikely source: the libero Smith. That ignited a 7-2 run to establish a 24-10 set point. The Falcons rallied briefly before Mlikotin put down the game-winner from the right pin.
St. Francis never trailed in the third. Zeff had two kills and CB committed three hitting errors to stretch a 15-9 Troubie lead into a 24-10 match point – a 9-1 run overall. The Falcons again scrambled back with five straight points but the SF advantage was insurmountable.
Saturday's win also avenges a 2-1 loss to the Falcons at Oak Ridge's Chris Craft Memorial Invitational one month earlier. Furthermore, it serves as a return to form for the Troubies, who head into the final week of the regular season with the hopes of positioning themselves in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section postseason.
"I'm really proud of them and happy for them," Wright said. "They've worked hard and come through a lot of adversity, with sicknesses in the last couple of weeks. We've had different players step up at different times. It was good to see the starting group jell. We need two wins this week, and this is really important for their confidence going into Cosumnes Oaks and Senior Night. Those are big nights. This sets them up for a lot more success."
The varsity win followed the frosh and JV wins for a combined 7-0 in set scores, although not without a brief cloud of doubt. The jayvees fell behind by as much as 8-3 in the second set before embarking on nine unanswered. Isabella Ramos served up three aces in that run, including the go-ahead at 9-8. Natalie Sandoval had a pair of kills while CB suffered three attacking errors in what eventually amounted to a 14-2 overall run.
Ramos also had two late kills to help the Troubie JV pull away from a relatively close 14-12 margin in the first set. Sandoval and middle blocker Copeland Williams each had two kills and combined for a stuff block in the first set. The jayvees improve to 27-2 overall, and have only dropped one set in its last 14 matches.
The Troubie frosh led wire-to-wire for its match, with Colleen Medina serving up five total aces – including three during the team's 10-1 start in the first set. Antonija Jezildzic, Mercy Collier, Katie Kramer and Kiera McManus led offensively, as St. Francis' youngest team now sits just one win away from its 30th for the year.
St. Francis hosts Sheldon for its home finale, which features the annual Booster-Q and a tribute to the five graduating seniors: Mlikotin, Garza, Sofia Alkire, Kate Fobes and Charlise Rowe. Match times are the standard 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.
