Posted: Oct 20, 2025
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior opposite Layla Hernandez posted career highs of 13 kills and six block assists while junior outside hitter Hailey Sutton notched a double-double of 13 kills and 24 digs, but the attention fell on St. Francis' senior class in a four-set, 25-12, 25-13, 20-25, 25-20 win over Oak Ridge in a showdown of ranked Sierra Foothill League girls' volleyball programs Monday night.
The Troubadours, ranked seventh in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps, improve to 29-7 for the year with a 7-6 record in league play. The No. 6 Trojans slip to 20-11 overall, 8-5 in the SFL race. Additionally, Oak Ridge had won nine straight matches in the head-to-head series, with the last SF victory being a 3-0 sweep in the 2019 SJS championship match at Natomas High.
Sutton and Hernandez were the only Troubies with double-digit offense, but the team hit a robust .296 behind the setting of Katie Kramer and Hiedi Vu. Kramer also served up a team-leading six aces.
Hernandez committed just two errors in 31 swings for a .355 success rate, while Sutton finished at .281 with her 13-4-32 attacking chart. Gilly Glikman (7-1-19), Marissa Jensen (5-1-9), Mercy Collier (6-1-15) and Sophia Palmeri (7-1-25) also provided offensive punch for SF.
However, St. Francis net defense proved even more impressive than the attack, with the team totaling 13 blocks. Collier had a solo with seven assists for eight total stuffs, with Hernandez close behind with her six assists. Not appearing on the stat sheet were the zero blocks, including six on a point that ended with a Sutton kill to set the board at 15-8 in the first set. Such plays did not directly score points, yet served to stifle Oak Ridge's potent attack throughout the match.
Meanwhile, Sutton's 24 digs led 76 by the team. Libero Malia Fat had 13, with defensive specialists Chloe Johnson and Gigi Dickerson rotated through with totals of 10 and nine, respectively.
Impressively, St. Francis did not trail for the entirety of the first and second sets. Hernandez had three kills as part of a 6-2 start to the match, then Collier teamed with Sutton, Glikman and Hernandez twice on blocks while delivering a pair of kills to break open the first set to a 21-9 lead. Sutton posted a solo stuff against OR counterpart Katy Solarzano for a 24-12 set point, then she landed a kill well off tape for the 25th.
Then Jensen hit back-to-back kills and Collier posted consecutive blocks – first teaming with Palmeri then delivering a solo – as part of a 18-3 start to the second set. Palmeri followed with two more kills as part of a 12-0 overall run, mostly behind the serving of Vu. Sophomore Kelsey Frank combined with Kaya Charles on a right-side block, then followed with a tool and an ace to help the Trojans work their way back to a 20-11 deficit before Hernandez landed two kills and a block to close out the set for a 2-0 match lead.
St. Francis continued to roll into the third, crafting a 10-6 start. Then the Trojans scored eight of the next nine, taking their first lead of the match on a Charles block with setter Ella Hieb at 12-11. Charles then teamed with senior Madelyn Snyder against Glikman to force a Troubie timeout, with Frank coming out of that break with a ace to extend the OR lead to 14-11. The Trojans later enjoyed a 6-1 run to build their lead to 22-15 before Charles and Hieb eventually closed out the set with a block.
The Troubies had a 8-1 run of their own early in the fourth to turn an early 5-5 tie to a 13-6 lead. Kramer served up back-to-back aces to start the frame, then Glikman had two kills and two blocks as part of the onslaught to the seven-point advantage. Oak Ridge closed to within two points at 13-11 and 14-12, but never came any closer. Sutton had three kills, Kramer managed another ace and Glikman tooled the Trojans' left-side block in a run that resulted in SF holding a 20-12 edge. Palmeri had two kills in the final stretch, including the match-winner.
The varsity win followed two straight-set sweeps for the St. Francis frosh and junior varsity, although neither came easy. The Troubie freshmen took down the opening set, 25-13, with Michaela Forman notching two kills and back-to-back aces in a 12-6 start, with Clara Anderson scoring three kills late in the stanza.
The Troubadours, ranked seventh in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps, improve to 29-7 for the year with a 7-6 record in league play. The No. 6 Trojans slip to 20-11 overall, 8-5 in the SFL race. Additionally, Oak Ridge had won nine straight matches in the head-to-head series, with the last SF victory being a 3-0 sweep in the 2019 SJS championship match at Natomas High.
Sutton and Hernandez were the only Troubies with double-digit offense, but the team hit a robust .296 behind the setting of Katie Kramer and Hiedi Vu. Kramer also served up a team-leading six aces.
Hernandez committed just two errors in 31 swings for a .355 success rate, while Sutton finished at .281 with her 13-4-32 attacking chart. Gilly Glikman (7-1-19), Marissa Jensen (5-1-9), Mercy Collier (6-1-15) and Sophia Palmeri (7-1-25) also provided offensive punch for SF.
However, St. Francis net defense proved even more impressive than the attack, with the team totaling 13 blocks. Collier had a solo with seven assists for eight total stuffs, with Hernandez close behind with her six assists. Not appearing on the stat sheet were the zero blocks, including six on a point that ended with a Sutton kill to set the board at 15-8 in the first set. Such plays did not directly score points, yet served to stifle Oak Ridge's potent attack throughout the match.
Meanwhile, Sutton's 24 digs led 76 by the team. Libero Malia Fat had 13, with defensive specialists Chloe Johnson and Gigi Dickerson rotated through with totals of 10 and nine, respectively.
Impressively, St. Francis did not trail for the entirety of the first and second sets. Hernandez had three kills as part of a 6-2 start to the match, then Collier teamed with Sutton, Glikman and Hernandez twice on blocks while delivering a pair of kills to break open the first set to a 21-9 lead. Sutton posted a solo stuff against OR counterpart Katy Solarzano for a 24-12 set point, then she landed a kill well off tape for the 25th.
Then Jensen hit back-to-back kills and Collier posted consecutive blocks – first teaming with Palmeri then delivering a solo – as part of a 18-3 start to the second set. Palmeri followed with two more kills as part of a 12-0 overall run, mostly behind the serving of Vu. Sophomore Kelsey Frank combined with Kaya Charles on a right-side block, then followed with a tool and an ace to help the Trojans work their way back to a 20-11 deficit before Hernandez landed two kills and a block to close out the set for a 2-0 match lead.
St. Francis continued to roll into the third, crafting a 10-6 start. Then the Trojans scored eight of the next nine, taking their first lead of the match on a Charles block with setter Ella Hieb at 12-11. Charles then teamed with senior Madelyn Snyder against Glikman to force a Troubie timeout, with Frank coming out of that break with a ace to extend the OR lead to 14-11. The Trojans later enjoyed a 6-1 run to build their lead to 22-15 before Charles and Hieb eventually closed out the set with a block.
The Troubies had a 8-1 run of their own early in the fourth to turn an early 5-5 tie to a 13-6 lead. Kramer served up back-to-back aces to start the frame, then Glikman had two kills and two blocks as part of the onslaught to the seven-point advantage. Oak Ridge closed to within two points at 13-11 and 14-12, but never came any closer. Sutton had three kills, Kramer managed another ace and Glikman tooled the Trojans' left-side block in a run that resulted in SF holding a 20-12 edge. Palmeri had two kills in the final stretch, including the match-winner.
The varsity win followed two straight-set sweeps for the St. Francis frosh and junior varsity, although neither came easy. The Troubie freshmen took down the opening set, 25-13, with Michaela Forman notching two kills and back-to-back aces in a 12-6 start, with Clara Anderson scoring three kills late in the stanza.
On the other hand, SF had to overcome deficits of 18-12 and 23-19 to then battle its guests to a 34-32 marathon win in the second. Oddly, most of the scoring in the extended portion of the second set came as a result of the other team making errors: nine attacking, setting or service errors between the two squads from 25-25 to 32-32. But Finley McKinnon knocked down a four ball and Katie Souliere landed her serve on the opposite baseline for a match-clinching ace.
St. Francis claimed a 25-16, 25-15 sweep in the junior varsity match, but even that outcome is misleading. The Troubies slipped into a 10-2 hole to start the match. Maura McManus had three kills and Delaney McGahan added two kills plus an ace to bring SF back into contention. The two teams tied the frame at 12-12, 15-15 and 16-16 but SF did not take the lead until Joie Dickerson served up an ace to make it 17-16. Dickerson continued to serve up five more aces in an overall 10-0 finish to the set.
Fortunately for the Troubies, the second set went more smoothly, with a 6-0 start contrasting the early struggles in the match. Tiara Lee hit three consecutive kills to extend that lead to 12-3, and later knocked down a fourth at 17-7. Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert also had four kills in the second set while McGahan had two aces and a block with Lee.
The overall match also served as Senior Night for six Troubie grads-to-be: Collier, Dickerson, Fat, Jensen, Johnson and Kramer. That group was honored prior to the varsity warmups, then each participated in a team tradition of signing off their careers by placing a painted handprint on a commemorative poster after the match.
St. Francis finishes its regular season with a road match at Davis on Wednesday. Match times are 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the Blue Devils' auxiliary gym.