LODI, Calif. – Junior outside hitter Sophia Palmeri knocked down 10 kills in a semifinal win over St. Mary's then followed with five kills and three blocks in a sweep of Rio Americano, helping St. Francis place fifth in the Lodi High site of the 17th Stockton Classic girls' prep volleyball tournament Saturday.

The Troubadours improve to 26-7 for the season.

St. Francis split its pool play matches in the morning, finishing strong in a 25-23, 25-12 sweep of Amador Valley before falling in straight sets, 25-21, 25-16, against Homestead. Junior Layla Hernandez hit five kills with no errors while Palmeri posted a team-leading seven kills in the win against the Dons, but the Troubies totaled just 14 kills with an .077 hitting average in the loss against last year's Central Coast Section runner-up.

This moved SF to the 'B' bracket with Rio, St. Mary's and Bear River. The Troubadours went the distance against the Rams, 23-25, 25-20, 15-8, with Palmeri enjoying a complete match: a 10-2-28 attacking chart with three service aces, 11 digs and two blocks. Hernandez also compiled another strong offensive outing with eight kills against no errors. Senior Katie Kramer led the setters with 12 assists while matching Palmeri's three aces.

Palmeri went on to serve as multiple Troubie weapons in a 25-19, 25-22 sweep of Rio Americano in the fifth-place match. St. Francis hit 22-8-57 (.246) mostly behind the setting of Kramer and Hiedi Vu. Senior middle Marissa Jensen hit 3-for-6 with two blocks, Sutton led all Troubies with six kills while adding a pair of stuffs.

Not surprisingly, all four of the B bracket competitors are ranked highly in the Sac-Joaquin Section, per MaxPreps: St. Francis at No. 7, with St. Mary's, Bear River and Rio Americano in 13th, 15th and 16th, respectively.

Homestead, ranked 12th in the CCS, went on to win the overall Lodi title. Rocklin captured the Bear Creek site, with California (Sierra), College Park (Lathrop), Benicia (Weston Ranch) and Los Banos (Franklin) taking first place at their respective locations.

St. Francis returns to Sierra Foothill League play with a tripleheader at Whitney on Monday.