EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. – St. Francis went 4-1 overall to place second at the junior varsity edition of the Christine Craft Memorial Invitational girls' volleyball tournament, hosted by Oak Ridge High School Saturday. The Troubadours, now 6-1 for the year, went 3-0 in the morning's round-robin portion, then advanced to the Gold bracket title match before falling to the host Trojans in a split-set battle.
St. Francis rolled past Ponderosa by scores of 25-4, 25-16; then beat Vista Del Lago with identical 25-16, 25-16 set wins, followed by a 25-15, 25-18 sweep of Whitney.
This set up a rematch with Rocklin High, which the Troubies claimed 25-12, 25-22. They capitalized on a 17-6 start to win the opener, but battled to nine ties and a deficit as late as 21-20 before claiming the second set.
In one of the most unusual plays of the day, setter Lola Quintanar served tough enough to force a free ball, but needed a literal "kick save" to keep the ball in play. The down ball went back over the net, and a surprised Thunder sent a hit into the net. This provided SFHS with a 19-18 lead, then Copeland Williams' solo stuff made it 20-18.
Rocklin scored three straight to claim a 21-20 lead, only to allow Natalie Sandoval roll shot to find open court for a 21-21 equalizer. Layla Alexander scored two kills down the stretch, including one on an errant Thunder set that found her hands at mid-tape for a 24-22 match point. Rocklin hit its next shot wide for the St. Francis winner.
The Troubies then faced host Oak Ridge for the Gold bracket finale. A run of seven unanswered propelled the Trojans to a 12-7 lead in the first set, although Alexander scored three straight points to pull the Troubies back to within a 19-17 deficit. He notched a kill, a block assist, then another kill during that run. However, Sadie Erickson ended the run with an offspeed shot at 20-17, and ORHS never let St. Francis any closer down the stretch.
However, the Troubadours battled back to equalize, largely behind two key serving runs from freshman Malia Fat. She served up four straight points to erase an initial 4-1 hole, then later served up aces for the 15th and 18th points to give SF an 18-11 edge. Sandoval scored two points down the stretch, including a monster blast for a 24-15 set point. A wide shot by the Trojans tied the match at 1-1.
The two teams matched up to seven ties, including a 10-10 equalizer by Sandoval, this time by the right pin. But credit ORSH sophomore Camryn Reiser for a key kill and solo block in the final 5-0 run for the Trojans.
Individual statistics were not kept for the Troubadours.
St. Francis opened the season with wins against Rocklin and Granite Bay prior to the Craft Invite, a tourney named in memory of a former Trojan volleyball star. The Troubadours return to action in three days for a Delta League triple header at Franklin on Tuesday. Match times are 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 for the three levels.
