SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore outside hitter Hailey Sutton posted a team-leading 10 kills against just two errors en route to a .400 average while matching setter Nika Jafari with a high of three service aces, boosting St. Francis to a 25-15, 28-26, 25-23 sweep of former Delta League rival Franklin in a preseason girls' volleyball tripleheader Thursday night.
The Troubadours pick up their first home win of the season, improving to 2-0 overall.
All three SF teams won in straight sets, with the frosh finishing on the good side of a 25-9, 25-12 drubbing, followed by a 25-7, 25-22 victory for the junior varsity.
Sophomore Sophia Palmieri added a 7-2-16 attack line for another .313 clip. Nika Jafari and Sydney Chow split up the setting duties with 14 and 11 assists, respectively. Malia Fat paced the floor defense with eight digs, while yet another sophomore, right-sider Gilly Glikman, led the net defense with three blocks.
The Troubies rolled to a 25-15 win in the first set but had to come back from deficits in each of the second and third frames. The Wildcats took an 18-15 lead on a run of three straight points, then later held a 23-18 edge. A service error began a 5-0 comeback to 23-23, with Glikman teaming up with Marissa Jensen on a block, Layla Alexander pounding out a pair of kills, and Chow serving up an ace in that stretch. Franklin sided out with a successful tip to hold a 24-23 set point, only to have two attacking errors give SF a 25-24 footing. The set further knotted up at 25-25 and 26-26 – the 11th and 12th ties of the frame – before Sutton's smackdown of a four ball to make it 27-26. SF picked up the deciding point when a Franklin set sailed out of reach of its middle hitter, resulting in a 2-0 match score.
The Wildcats led almost the entirety of the third set, with the Troubies suffering from eight attacking errors to fall into a holes of 18-11 and later, 20-16. The momentum shifted after a mix-up with the serving order: Franklin had a point reversed, turning what would have been a 21-16 margin into a 20-17 lead. St. Francis scored seven of the next eight. Sophia Palmeri turned back a tipped ball, then later scored from the right pin. Glikman, who missed long for the lone Franklin point in the 7-1 stretch, earned her redemption with a second-chance kill at 23-21. Chow and junior Chloe Johnson each served up aces, the latter of which resulted in a 24-21 triple match point. SF finished the win when a Wildcat serve fell short.
The varsity comebacks in the second and third sets mirrored the Troubie jayvees' experience in their second-set win. After breezing to a 25-7 score in the opener, St. Francis trailed as late as 19-18 in the wake of a rare libero kill. Olivia Hurst hit the equalizer on a five to even the proceedings at 19-19, Joie Dickerson recorded two aces and Reese Tucker slammed back-to-back kills from the left side for the final flourish to complete the sweep. The JV and varsity wins followed a more dominant 25-9, 25-12 win for the St. Francis frosh.
St. Francis volleyball heads into one of its most anticipated annual matchups, taking on Christian Brothers for the "Holy Court" rivalry tripleheader on Saturday at Cosumnes River College. The frosh contest begins at 4 p.m., with JV and varsity following in succession.
