ROCKLIN, Calif. – Sophomore Gilly Glikman finished with five kills and two blocks while junior Chloe Johnson had team highs of three aces and eight digs, but St. Francis collectively suffered from 20 attacking errors in falling in straight sets, 25-15, 30-28, 25-10 at Rocklin in the varsity finale of a Sierra Foothill League tripleheader Monday night.

The Troubadours move to 9-4 for the year and open their first Sierra Foothill League slate at 0-1.

The varsity loss followed a 25-17, 25-13 St. Francis sweep in the junior varsity match, while the Troubie frosh squad came away with a split-set, 25-15, 10-25, 15-10 victory over the Thunder in the auxiliary gym.

Glikman had just one of the hitting miscues to finish with a solid .267 average on 15 swings. Three of her kills came in the second set, with the last of them giving the Troubies a 27-26 set point. But Rocklin middle blocker Rylee Heinz answered by putting down a one ball to erase the last SF lead in the match. Heinz came through with the go-ahead kill at 29-28, then Rocklin finished the second frame on a Troubie swing into the net.

St. Francis actually started each of the first two frames with quick starts: a 5-1 lead in the first and a 4-0 edge in the second. Sophomore Hailey Sutton's slam from the left pin boosted the Troubies to a 11-8 edge in the opening stanza, and a Rocklin attack error made it 12-8. However, the Thunder's 6-foot-2 middle Bianca Slone posted three kills while outside hitter Gianna Bogan took part in a pair of blocks in a run of 15 unanswered points. Gabrielle Rowe interrupted that stretch with a successful line shot, and SF picked up two more points on a pair of unforced errors before Rocklin wrapped up the first-set win.

The Troubies held a 14-10 lead midway through the second, with a Sophia Palmeri/Marissa Jensen block and a Layla Alexander kill providing the 13th and 14th points. Rocklin eventually equalized at 16-16 on Addy Scheitlin's kill on a four set. Scheitlin later came through from the back row to give the Thunder a 24-22 set point, prompting St. Francis to call a timeout. Palmeri knocked down a five ball then teamed with Mercy Collier for a block to tie the set at 24-24. The two teams locked up at 25-25, 26-26, 27-27 and 28-28 before the Heinz game-winner.

Alexander and Rowe each had two kills in the finale, but Rocklin dominated from wire-to-wire. Slone had four kills in the third with a solo block for the final point of the match.

Rocklin has now won four of the last five meetings in the series between the two teams, with the lone St. Francis victory coming in the 2022 Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

The Troubadours return to action at home against Folsom on Wednesday. Match times are 4:30 for frosh, 5:30 for JV, 6:30 for varsity.