Posted: Oct 25, 2022
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior outside hitter Olivia Mlikotin and junior opposite Caroline Foraker combined for 31 kills while junior libero Jacqueline Smith tallied a team-high 18 digs, leading St. Francis to a 25-12, 25-10, 25-14 sweep of Lodi in the first round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I girls' volleyball tournament Tuesday night.
The fifth-seeded Troubadours (21-7), winners of the Delta League, will head to fourth-seeded Rocklin (21-12) for a quarterfinal match on Thursday. The Thunder, which finished third in the Sierra Foothill League to qualify for the section draw, swept Laguna Creek, 25-7, 25-16, 25-19.
"We seem to be peaking at the right time," said veteran St. Francis head coach Alynn Wright. "We've learned to trust each other on the court, and we're playing for each other rather than as individuals. I think that makes a really big difference."
Mlikotin posted a team-best 16 kills against just four errors on 34 attempts for a .353 average. Foraker pounded out 15 kills with just two attacking miscues for a whopping .464 clip. With senior middle blocker Sophia Garza adding an errorless 5-for-7 on the attack, St. Francis hit .323 as a team behind the setting of Kelsey Magley (23 assists) and Kate Fobes (14 assists).
"We passed well, so we could run the offense, and Kelsey and Kate did a good job finding the isolated hitter so that we were one-on-one," said Wright. "Defensively, we were really scrappy tonight. All in all, I'm really pleased. I thought we served well. Veronica [Datwyler] did a great job coming in for a good run of points."
Magley also led the serving stats with four aces, including back-to-back during a serving run that helped the Troubies pull away from a tight 11-10 lead to the 25-12 finish in the opening frame. SFHS continued its hot streak in the second, with Magley adding two more aces amidst an 8-1 start. The Flames battled back to as close as 12-8, thanks to a strong serving run from setter Elizabeth Kanemura, but the Foraker-Garza-Mlikotin machine propelled the Troubies to a 12-2 finish. Garza had three kills in that final stretch, while a pair of zero blocks frustrated the Lodi attack, eventually allowing Mlikotin's down ball to fall for a kill.
Mlikotin had four straight kills down the stretch of the second, hammering home a thunderous four ball to make it 21-10, then sending a crosscourt shot into the opposite corner for the 22nd point. Two more kills set up a 24-10 set point, with Smith serving up an ace for the 25th point, sending SF up 2-0 in the match. Mlikotin amassed eight kills in that second set alone.
Veronica Datwyler helped serve the Troubies to an 10-3 start to the third, but a pair of hitting errors plus an out-of-rotation violation helped pull the guests to within an 11-9 margin. The St. Francis floor defense of Smith and Sofia Alkire (10 digs total) kept Lodi's hitting at bay down the stretch, while Foraker accounted for five points in her team's 9-2 finish. The junior Davisite found a kill off tape to make it 17-12, then added kills on a five set, a tip, a joust and a slide. Meanwhile, Fobes served up an ace and Mlikotin tooled the Flames' left-side block during the final stretch.
In applauding her own team's defense, coach Wright credited Lodi for its equally scrappy play. "We were putting down some pretty good swings. We need that, we need to be in a long rally and win it. And if we don't win it, we have to refocus and get the next point. And I thought we did a good job with that."
Thursday's playoff matchup marks the third time St. Francis will have faced Rocklin this season, with the Thunder taking the two previous matchups: a 3-0 sweep at SF to open the year; and a 2-1 battle at the High Sierra Invitational in early September. Tickets are available exclusively through GoFan, fans should head to https://gofan.co/app/school/CA8032 for a link later this week.
The fifth-seeded Troubadours (21-7), winners of the Delta League, will head to fourth-seeded Rocklin (21-12) for a quarterfinal match on Thursday. The Thunder, which finished third in the Sierra Foothill League to qualify for the section draw, swept Laguna Creek, 25-7, 25-16, 25-19.
"We seem to be peaking at the right time," said veteran St. Francis head coach Alynn Wright. "We've learned to trust each other on the court, and we're playing for each other rather than as individuals. I think that makes a really big difference."
Mlikotin posted a team-best 16 kills against just four errors on 34 attempts for a .353 average. Foraker pounded out 15 kills with just two attacking miscues for a whopping .464 clip. With senior middle blocker Sophia Garza adding an errorless 5-for-7 on the attack, St. Francis hit .323 as a team behind the setting of Kelsey Magley (23 assists) and Kate Fobes (14 assists).
"We passed well, so we could run the offense, and Kelsey and Kate did a good job finding the isolated hitter so that we were one-on-one," said Wright. "Defensively, we were really scrappy tonight. All in all, I'm really pleased. I thought we served well. Veronica [Datwyler] did a great job coming in for a good run of points."
Magley also led the serving stats with four aces, including back-to-back during a serving run that helped the Troubies pull away from a tight 11-10 lead to the 25-12 finish in the opening frame. SFHS continued its hot streak in the second, with Magley adding two more aces amidst an 8-1 start. The Flames battled back to as close as 12-8, thanks to a strong serving run from setter Elizabeth Kanemura, but the Foraker-Garza-Mlikotin machine propelled the Troubies to a 12-2 finish. Garza had three kills in that final stretch, while a pair of zero blocks frustrated the Lodi attack, eventually allowing Mlikotin's down ball to fall for a kill.
Mlikotin had four straight kills down the stretch of the second, hammering home a thunderous four ball to make it 21-10, then sending a crosscourt shot into the opposite corner for the 22nd point. Two more kills set up a 24-10 set point, with Smith serving up an ace for the 25th point, sending SF up 2-0 in the match. Mlikotin amassed eight kills in that second set alone.
Veronica Datwyler helped serve the Troubies to an 10-3 start to the third, but a pair of hitting errors plus an out-of-rotation violation helped pull the guests to within an 11-9 margin. The St. Francis floor defense of Smith and Sofia Alkire (10 digs total) kept Lodi's hitting at bay down the stretch, while Foraker accounted for five points in her team's 9-2 finish. The junior Davisite found a kill off tape to make it 17-12, then added kills on a five set, a tip, a joust and a slide. Meanwhile, Fobes served up an ace and Mlikotin tooled the Flames' left-side block during the final stretch.
In applauding her own team's defense, coach Wright credited Lodi for its equally scrappy play. "We were putting down some pretty good swings. We need that, we need to be in a long rally and win it. And if we don't win it, we have to refocus and get the next point. And I thought we did a good job with that."
Thursday's playoff matchup marks the third time St. Francis will have faced Rocklin this season, with the Thunder taking the two previous matchups: a 3-0 sweep at SF to open the year; and a 2-1 battle at the High Sierra Invitational in early September. Tickets are available exclusively through GoFan, fans should head to https://gofan.co/app/school/CA8032 for a link later this week.
