SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Layla Alexander posted a team-leading seven kills while sophomore Hailey Sutton added six, but St. Francis lost to Christian Brothers in straight sets, 25-22, 25-17, 25-14, in the annual "Holy Court" rivalry matchup of the area's two largest Catholic school girls' volleyball programs at Cosumnes River College's Clark Court Saturday.
The Troubadours slip to 2-1 for the season. However, each of the SF frosh and junior varsity squads won by 2-0 match scores heading into the varsity showdown. The Troubie frosh posted set scores of 25-15, 25-23, while JV prevailed more handily, 25-11, 25-8.
As a team, St. Francis varsity managed just 23 kills, three aces and a single blocked shot to account for barely half of its total points. In fact, in the second-set loss, 10 of the Troubies' 17 points came courtesy of Falcon errors. Alexander finished with a 7-2-16 attacking chart for a .313 average.
The Troubies led by as much as 13-7 to start the match, but also got a taste of what followed later: senior Faith Rabb-Patterson and junior Simone Huarte managed five kills for the Falcons during that start. St. Francis also caught a break when an out-of-rotation serving violation erased a Raegan Dineen kill. CB later evened the set at 14-14 on an off-speed ball for the first of seven ties down the stretch. Huarte had three kills as part of a 5-1 Falcon finish in the opener.
The second set took the opposite shape, with Christian Brothers amassing a 14-7 start. Sutton notched four kills during a comeback to 15-15, one of which came on the heels of spectacular floor defense from Chloe Johnson and Malia Fat. The Falcons then went on a 10-2 rampage to close out the frame and take a 2-0 match lead, then pulled away from a 5-5 tie en route to the 11-point win in the third set.
The varsity match stood in contrast from the jayvees, in which Layla Hernandez (6-0-10), Alli MacDonald (4-0-5), Trinity Ito (4-1-6) and Sidney Palmeri (2-0-5) helped the Troubies combine for a .368 average. Meanwhile, sophomore Lili Haddad served up five of the team's 11 aces, while Hernandez posted three stuff blocks.
St. Francis frosh also swept its match, although not without some excitement in the second frame. After taking a 12-4 lead on a Gaby Gonzalez ace, the Troubies surrendered 10 of the next 13 points to see that margin trimmed to just 15-14. CB appeared to have tied the set at 15-15 but an uncertain line call resulted in a replayed point. Lyla Faruzzi, whose tipped ball led to the confusion, left no doubt on the mulligan when she tooled the Falcons' right-side block. Ultimately, the Troubies never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. Maura McManus' kill on a five ball stretched the lead to 21-16, then when CB trimmed the margin down to just 23-22, Lilliana Negrete posted a huge solo stuff to set up a 24-22 match point. Each team traded errant serves to end the match and prevent a rubber set.
Saturday's varsity match marked the first time in the "MaxPreps era" (since 2009) that Christian Brothers beat St. Francis in three sets. The two programs had gone 5-5 in the 10 previous meetings, two of which were parts of tournaments, with the Troubies claiming the only 3-0 wins.
St. Francis returns to action on Wednesday for yet another reunion with a former Delta leaguemate: Pleasant Grove. The frosh match starts at 4:30 p.m., which each subsequent match beginning approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of the previous one.
