SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior middle blocker Mercy Collier posted four kills in a team-leading nine swings while adding three blocks defensively, while senior outside hitter Layla Alexander hit an errorless 5-for-7, leading St. Francis to a 25-17, 25-13, 25-15 sweep of McClatchy to close out a season-opening girls' prep volleyball tripleheader Tuesday night.

The Troubadours' junior varsity won its match by scores of 25-18, 25-12; with the SF frosh claiming a 25-17, 25-11 win in the opener. The victories also kick off the new era under new head varsity coach Taryn Campbell, who previously served as the program's head JV mentor.

St. Francis spread its touches across all 20 members of the varsity roster. Sophomore opposite Gilly Glikman matched Alexander's lead with five kills on seven attempts. Senior Gabrielle Rowe and sophomore Hailey Sutton also managed seven attacks in the three sets.

Senior Sydney Chow was one of four Troubie setters to see action, leading her team with 10 assists and nine digs. Furthermore, five SF players had two aces apiece: Sutton, Chloe Johnson, Dani Payant, Malia Fat and Mana Jafari. Overall, the Troubadours hit .267 for the match, and served up 13 aces against just five errors.

The two teams battled closely throughout the first set, with the Lions recovering from an initial 5-1 SF start to hold leads of 7-6 and later, 11-10 and 15-13. A service error sent Mana Jafari to the service line, where the senior libero led a run of eight straight to lift the Troubies to a 21-15 edge. Glikman put down two kills in that run while Ramos blocked a down-ball attempt for the 21st. Ramos later had the finisher of the frame.

Then in the second set, Collier stole the show with two kills and two blocks in a 16-2 overall run that stretched a 5-3 start to a commanding 21-5 lead. McClatchy fought up four straight set points before Sophia Palmeri put the finishing touch on a four ball. The third set marked Alexander's turn to lead the attack, knocking down four kills in the frame with three coming in an 8-2 run that propelled SF to a 16-8 advantage. The Lions closed the gap to five on an ace at 16-11, but SF claimed nine of the final 13 points. Cousins Fat and Ellie Carpenter each served up aces in the closing run, Collier and Natalie Sandoval each recorded kills and CKM suffered four unforced attack errors down the stretch of the match.

Like their varsity older sisters, St. Francis JV and frosh distributed court time across their entire rosters in their respective wins. Sophomore Layla Hernandez and freshman Sidney Palmeri each had four kills in the 25-12 first set, while sophomore Gianna Flesoras matched their total in the 25-17 second.

In fact, Flesoras had the final go-ahead point in a second frame that featured eight ties, earning the kill thanks to a CKM net violation that made it 19-18 for the Troubies. Mackenzie Thomas scored on a tip then teamed with Olivia Hurst for a block to make it three straight to 21-18. Freshman Reese Tucker smacked a kill from the left pin for a 24-18 match point, with Taylor Crotsley serving up an ace on the match finale.

In the frosh opener, Gaby Gonzalez served up eight aces and had something of an inadvertent kill. With the Troubies trailing 8-6, she swooped in to cover a block. However, that ball drifted over the net and fell untouched in Lion territory. Gonzalez also had five of those aces in an 8-0 run that turned a 10-10 tie into a comfortable 18-10 edge. In fact, 13 of the 25 SF points came at its service line, with two more coming from CKM serving miscues. Setter Kyle Beckett had two of those winners in the opener and two more in the second frame, while libero Ava Lucas won three straight points at the service line to close out the frosh win.

Oddly, a serving mishap extended the first set. St. Francis mistakenly sent Emily Simpson to the line, where she promptly put the Troubies up to an 8-5 lead. However, when the officials spotted the rotation error, the reverted to that point and adjusted the score to 6-6 instead, then the Troubies committed a hitting error and a net violation to fall into an 8-6 hole. In the end, this simply extended the win. In addition to Gonzalez' feats at the service line, Lyla Faruzzi posted three kills from both the right pin and back row from that point forward.

Tuesday's set also launched the SF careers for new head coaches at the JV (Todd Rhoads) and frosh (Joey Uliana) levels.

St. Francis returns to action with its home opener on Thursday, hosting former Delta League mate Franklin in matches starting at 4 p.m. This is the first season in which the Troubadours will play in the tough Sierra Foothill League.