ELK GROVE, Calif. – Senior outside hitter Olivia Mlikotin tallied a team-leading 13 kills with a .500 hitting average, leading St. Francis varsity to a 25-18, 25-9, 25-11 sweep of Cosumnes Oaks in a Delta League girls' volleyball matchup Thursday night.
The Troubadours improve to 20-7 overall and 11-1 in Delta League action. The win also completed the program's 23rd all-time league title, a collection that includes championships in the Metro, Delta River and Delta leagues dating back to 1992.
"The team worked really hard, and that was one of their big goals all season long," said head coach Alynn Wright, who has helmed SF through all 23 of those championships. "All of the players stepped up at different times, and it's a tribute to their day-in and day-out work. They push each other to make each other better. That's a sign of a good team, and it feels wonderful."
The lone loss came against Pleasant Grove during a stretch when several Troubie players were out due to illness. However, St. Francis followed that with a dominating win against Christian Brothers in the much-awaited Holy Court rivalry match that weekend, and the Troubies rolled through the remaining of the Delta League competition in Tuesday's Senior Night win over Sheldon plus Thursday's victory at CO. "We seem to be peaking at the right time, which is what you always want," said Wright. "PG beat us. We weren't on our game, and it was a wake-up call. I think it brought a little more determination and fight in practice, which has transferred into the matches."
Oddly, or perhaps appropriately, the host Wolfpack won last year's Delta League crown, ending what had been a three-year streak for the Troubies.
The varsity win also highlighted a full sweep of the Wolfpack, along with the SFHS frosh's 25-12, 25-13 win and junior varsity's 25-8, 25-16 sweep. The two Troubie sub-varsity teams ran the Delta League table in 2022 with matching 12-0 records, with only one set loss between them.
Mlikotin committed only one attacking error on 24 total swings en route to her .500 clip. In fact, the Troubies finished with a .358 efficiency rate as a team: 37 kills with just eight hitting miscues on 81 attempts. Middle blockers Sophia Garza (5-1-9) and Lily Zeff (4-0-6) contributed to that total, with junior setter Kelsey Magley amassing 24 of the team's 32 assists.
St. Francis also dominated at the service line with 17 aces. Senior Sofia Alkire had five of those winners, with Magley and junior opposite Caroline Foraker adding four each. Zeff led the net defense with four total blocks while libero Jacqueline Smith led the Troubie floor defense with 14 digs.
No individual statistics are available for the JV or frosh matches.
The Troubadour varsity will learn its Sac-Joaquin Section seed and opponent when the section rolls out the playoff brackets at 4 p.m. on Friday. St. Francis entered the match ranked No. 5 in the section, behind Oak Ridge, Whitney, Pitman and St. Mary's.
