SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Lana Ezeani led three Troubies in double-digit offense while senior libero Jacqueline Smith posted 25 digs, but St. Francis saw its 2-0 match lead wither to its first Delta League loss of the year, falling in five sets to Pleasant Grove in the finale of a Delta League girls' volleyball tripleheader Tuesday night. The match was decided by scores of 13-25, 13-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-8 for the Eagles.
The Troubadours slip to 21-8 for the year and 8-1 in conference play, the latter of which moves them into a tie with the Eagles atop the league standings.
Ezeani posted 18 kills with just four errors toward a .341 hitting average. Junior outside hitter Natalie Sandoval added 13 kills and senior middle blocker Lily Zeff totaled a 12-3-26 hitting chart for a .346 clip. Senior setter Kelsey Magley, who distributed 42 assists to her attack, also provided 6-for-14 hitting on her own. In fact, Magley had another all-around match for the Troubies: eight digs, two blocks and a team-leading four aces.
Smith was one of two SF players with double-figure floor defense, joining Veronica Datwyler (10). Meanwhile, Amanda Silber and Gabrielle Rowe each had three blocks, with Magley and Zeff finishing with two each.
In fact, it was the net play that proved pivotal down the stretch of PG's comeback. The Eagles had 10 blocks in all, with eight coming in their fourth- and fifth-set wins. After St. Francis stormed to a 10-3 start to the fourth, PG answered with a 9-0 run. Zoe Liebel tooled the Troubie block three times in that stretch while middle blocker Lillian Rix had two of her three solo blocks as part of the comeback.
The Eagles never trailed again after that key run for the remainder of the fourth frame, and led wire-to-wire in the rubber set.
This stands in contrast to the St. Francis domination in the first two sets. Zeff knocked down five kills and teamed with Magley and Rowe for blocks in the 25-13 win to start the match, then Ezeani had seven kills – including three straight to finish – as the Troubies matched that score for the second set. Ezeani also led the Troubie comeback in the third after the Eagles crafted a leads of 19-8 and later, 22-12. She put away three kills, Magley served up an ace and sent a second ball to the opposite corner of the court for two more points, while Silber had a block to make it 22-18. Unfortunately for St. Francis, PG junior Isis Castille responded with three straight kills to halt the Troubies and prevent the sweep.
The varsity loss followed straight-set wins by the St. Francis frosh (25-19, 25-6) and junior varsity (25-16, 25-20). Both teams stay undefeated in Delta League play at 9-0, with the frosh improving to 23-1 overall and the JV to 28-1 for the year.
Trinity Ito (four kills, two aces), Gilly Glikman (six kills) and Gianna Flesoras (five kills and an ace) provided the lion's share of the scoring in the first set of the frosh win, then Grace Biery and Olivia Wedding each served up three aces in the second stanza.
The serving game also boosted the Troubie jayvees, with Danielle Payant and Malia Fat each serving up three in the straight-set win. Copeland Williams led the net play with three block assists in the second – one each with Jessica Dillie, Layla Hernandez and Lili Haddad. Meanwhile, Hernandez hammered out five kills while Layla Alexander had four kills and two aces. Freshman Sophia Palmeri also had five kills in the match, including three of St. Francis' first five points of the 25-20 second-set win.
Tuesday's tripleheader kicks off a four-date homestand for St. Francis. All three teams return to action against Elk Grove on Thursday, with the frosh leading off the night with a 4:30 p.m. start.
