Posted: Nov 13, 2025
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior opposite Layla Hernandez finished with a career-high 14 kills and assisted on five of her team's 13 total blocks, as No. 2-seeded St. Francis outlasted No. 10 Cardinal Newman in five sets, 25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 23-25, 16-14, in the quarterfinal round of the Northern California Region Division II girls' volleyball championship tournament Thursday.
The Troubadours improve to 34-8 for the year and move on to host No. 3-seeded West Park in the semifinal round on Saturday. Match time is 6 p.m.
Impressively, neither of Hernandez attacking nor blocking numbers led St. Francis in the win. Junior outside hitters Hailey Sutton and Sophia Palmeri posted kills totals of 17 and 15, respectively. Meanwhile, senior middle blocker Mercy Collier assisted on nine of the 13 stuffs, with junior opposite Gilly Glikman (6) and senior middle Marissa Jensen (4) also figuring on multiple blocks. Sutton and Palmeri each had the remaining block assists: Sutton joined Collier on the 22-21 go-ahead point in the first set, Palmeri later teamed with Collier as part of a 6-0 comeback run late in the fourth.
Glikman also hit eight kills with just one error for a .318 average. Hernandez was even more efficient, committing just four attacking miscues on 30 swings for a .333 clip. Overall, the Troubies hit a respectable .218 as a team, with a .464 success rate (16-3-28) in the second highlighting the offense.
Sutton and Palmeri also provided floor defensive figures of 17 and 16 digs, respectively, behind only senior libero Malia Fat's 25 gets. Fat also posted three aces with no service errors.
St. Francis struggled early in the match, facing deficits of 4-1 and 10-6 before enjoying a 9-2 run to claim the lead for good. Sutton had two kills in the key stretch, with Glikman and Palmeri each picking up one to supplement four hitting errors for Newman. The Cardinals eventually came back to tie the first set at 18-18 on Estelle Stevens' dump. But Collier and Hernandez answered that with a block, then Palmeri scored two kills for a 21-19 lead.
Still, CN's heavy hitters Cienna Alvarez and Emma Donnelly found kills to pull their team back to a 21-21 tie. The Sutton-Collier block restored SF's lead only for Cardinal sophomore Grayson Acostato answer with another equalizer. St. Francis finished with three straight points, with Katie Kramer's ace and Hernandez' kill on a five ball finishing the frame.
The two teams continued to battle closely in the second, matching up to a fourth tie when Summer Binder's joust evened the score at 10-10. However, the Troubadours answered back with eight of the next nine points. Glikman mishit a ball that still managed to fall in for a kill, then Jensen came up with four of the next five tallies: a put-back of Cardinal overpass at 12-10, a block with Hernandez for the 13th point, a tool to make it 14-11, then a joust of her own against Binder at 15-11. By the time Harper Rios' serving run came to an end, St. Francis held an 18-11 lead. Sutton had two kills down the stretch while Collier scored a tool and her fifth block of the night to complete a nine-point win and a 2-0 match lead.
Other than an initial 3-0 start for the Cardinals, the two teams traded the lead five times with neither holding more than a two-point lead for most of the third. Newman senior Elizabeth Danley served up back-to-back aces with Kimmy Wilson later delivering one of her own for an 18-16 lead, only for SF to respond with three straight: kills by Palmeri and Sutton plus a Glikman-Collier block to set the board at 19-18 for the Troubies. Unfortunately for St. Francis, Binder hit consecutive kills from the middle of the tape and three different Troubies suffered attacking errors as CN finished on a 6-1 run to prevent the sweep.
Alvarez then stole the show for the fourth, hammering out nine kills in that set alone. Three of those shots came in a 7-0 Cardinal run that also featured a Stevens-Wilson block on the right side, then another Danley ace made it a 17-10 edge for Newman. Still, St. Francis responded with five unanswered points, with Collier claiming two. She posted a zero block, then when the Cardinals successfully covered, she sent the ball back for an unassisted kill. Collier later came out of a CN timeout with kill to close the gap to 17-15.
Alvarez' offense stretched the Newman lead back to 20-15, forcing St. Francis to use its second timeout of the frame. The Troubies clearly regrouped after the break: Palmeri had two kills and teamed with Collier on a block. Rios contributed with her serve, not only with an ace but also forcing Newman out of system enough to put SF up, 21-20, for its first lead since the board read 9-8. Stevens and Danley combined on a block to regain the lead at 22-21, and a Troubie net violation awarded Donnelly a kill and a 23-21 lead. However, Collier and Glikman blocked Donnelly, then Sutton earned a kill from a Cardinal net violation to even the score at 23-23. Unfortunately for the Troubies, CN got the next two, gaining set point in a relatively fluke play: a pass to Rios missed slightly high, and the sophomore setter touched the ball on its way over for a back-row attack violation. The Cardinals took down the fourth set and forced the fifth.
St. Francis managed to start out with a 4-1 lead and later crafted a 9-7 advantage. That's when Alvarez, who had hit the majority of her shots from the left side, delivered a kill from the right pin. It also put the Newman star on the service line, where she continued to serve up four straight points for a 12-9 lead. Sutton helped bring the Troubies to a fifth tie of 12-12, thanks to two key kills, then Glikman and Jensen combined for a block against Donnelly for a 13-12 lead. Then Alvarez managed to tool the Troubie block from beyond the 10-foot line, evening the score for a sixth time at 13-13. Binder followed with a kill to provide Newman with a 14-13 match point.
On the brink of a massive upset – second only to No. 15 Dana Hill's win over No. 2 Westview on the SoCal half of the overall state bracket – St. Francis came up with three straight points for the win. Sutton put down her 17th kill for the equalizer, Hernandez and Jensen stuffed a shot along the right side for a 15-14 Troubie match point, then a Cardinal shot sailed beyond the baseline for the winner.
Following Thursday's win, St. Francis enjoys its deepest run in the NorCal tourney since 2018, when the Troubies upset No. 3-seed Campolindo in the quarterfinal only to fall in five sets to No. 2 Bishop O'Dowd in the semis. St. Francis' last trip to the NorCal final was in 2013, ending with a 25-23, 25-8, 29-27 sweep by Granite Bay. The Troubies have reached the state final twice: the 2005 D-III tourney at Saddleback College, which resulted in a 26-24, 25-21, 25-21 win over Rim of the World; and the 2012 D-I draw at Concordia of Irvine, which ended in a 25-11, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 loss to Marymount.
The Troubadours improve to 34-8 for the year and move on to host No. 3-seeded West Park in the semifinal round on Saturday. Match time is 6 p.m.
Impressively, neither of Hernandez attacking nor blocking numbers led St. Francis in the win. Junior outside hitters Hailey Sutton and Sophia Palmeri posted kills totals of 17 and 15, respectively. Meanwhile, senior middle blocker Mercy Collier assisted on nine of the 13 stuffs, with junior opposite Gilly Glikman (6) and senior middle Marissa Jensen (4) also figuring on multiple blocks. Sutton and Palmeri each had the remaining block assists: Sutton joined Collier on the 22-21 go-ahead point in the first set, Palmeri later teamed with Collier as part of a 6-0 comeback run late in the fourth.
Glikman also hit eight kills with just one error for a .318 average. Hernandez was even more efficient, committing just four attacking miscues on 30 swings for a .333 clip. Overall, the Troubies hit a respectable .218 as a team, with a .464 success rate (16-3-28) in the second highlighting the offense.
Sutton and Palmeri also provided floor defensive figures of 17 and 16 digs, respectively, behind only senior libero Malia Fat's 25 gets. Fat also posted three aces with no service errors.
St. Francis struggled early in the match, facing deficits of 4-1 and 10-6 before enjoying a 9-2 run to claim the lead for good. Sutton had two kills in the key stretch, with Glikman and Palmeri each picking up one to supplement four hitting errors for Newman. The Cardinals eventually came back to tie the first set at 18-18 on Estelle Stevens' dump. But Collier and Hernandez answered that with a block, then Palmeri scored two kills for a 21-19 lead.
Still, CN's heavy hitters Cienna Alvarez and Emma Donnelly found kills to pull their team back to a 21-21 tie. The Sutton-Collier block restored SF's lead only for Cardinal sophomore Grayson Acostato answer with another equalizer. St. Francis finished with three straight points, with Katie Kramer's ace and Hernandez' kill on a five ball finishing the frame.
The two teams continued to battle closely in the second, matching up to a fourth tie when Summer Binder's joust evened the score at 10-10. However, the Troubadours answered back with eight of the next nine points. Glikman mishit a ball that still managed to fall in for a kill, then Jensen came up with four of the next five tallies: a put-back of Cardinal overpass at 12-10, a block with Hernandez for the 13th point, a tool to make it 14-11, then a joust of her own against Binder at 15-11. By the time Harper Rios' serving run came to an end, St. Francis held an 18-11 lead. Sutton had two kills down the stretch while Collier scored a tool and her fifth block of the night to complete a nine-point win and a 2-0 match lead.
Other than an initial 3-0 start for the Cardinals, the two teams traded the lead five times with neither holding more than a two-point lead for most of the third. Newman senior Elizabeth Danley served up back-to-back aces with Kimmy Wilson later delivering one of her own for an 18-16 lead, only for SF to respond with three straight: kills by Palmeri and Sutton plus a Glikman-Collier block to set the board at 19-18 for the Troubies. Unfortunately for St. Francis, Binder hit consecutive kills from the middle of the tape and three different Troubies suffered attacking errors as CN finished on a 6-1 run to prevent the sweep.
Alvarez then stole the show for the fourth, hammering out nine kills in that set alone. Three of those shots came in a 7-0 Cardinal run that also featured a Stevens-Wilson block on the right side, then another Danley ace made it a 17-10 edge for Newman. Still, St. Francis responded with five unanswered points, with Collier claiming two. She posted a zero block, then when the Cardinals successfully covered, she sent the ball back for an unassisted kill. Collier later came out of a CN timeout with kill to close the gap to 17-15.
Alvarez' offense stretched the Newman lead back to 20-15, forcing St. Francis to use its second timeout of the frame. The Troubies clearly regrouped after the break: Palmeri had two kills and teamed with Collier on a block. Rios contributed with her serve, not only with an ace but also forcing Newman out of system enough to put SF up, 21-20, for its first lead since the board read 9-8. Stevens and Danley combined on a block to regain the lead at 22-21, and a Troubie net violation awarded Donnelly a kill and a 23-21 lead. However, Collier and Glikman blocked Donnelly, then Sutton earned a kill from a Cardinal net violation to even the score at 23-23. Unfortunately for the Troubies, CN got the next two, gaining set point in a relatively fluke play: a pass to Rios missed slightly high, and the sophomore setter touched the ball on its way over for a back-row attack violation. The Cardinals took down the fourth set and forced the fifth.
St. Francis managed to start out with a 4-1 lead and later crafted a 9-7 advantage. That's when Alvarez, who had hit the majority of her shots from the left side, delivered a kill from the right pin. It also put the Newman star on the service line, where she continued to serve up four straight points for a 12-9 lead. Sutton helped bring the Troubies to a fifth tie of 12-12, thanks to two key kills, then Glikman and Jensen combined for a block against Donnelly for a 13-12 lead. Then Alvarez managed to tool the Troubie block from beyond the 10-foot line, evening the score for a sixth time at 13-13. Binder followed with a kill to provide Newman with a 14-13 match point.
On the brink of a massive upset – second only to No. 15 Dana Hill's win over No. 2 Westview on the SoCal half of the overall state bracket – St. Francis came up with three straight points for the win. Sutton put down her 17th kill for the equalizer, Hernandez and Jensen stuffed a shot along the right side for a 15-14 Troubie match point, then a Cardinal shot sailed beyond the baseline for the winner.
Following Thursday's win, St. Francis enjoys its deepest run in the NorCal tourney since 2018, when the Troubies upset No. 3-seed Campolindo in the quarterfinal only to fall in five sets to No. 2 Bishop O'Dowd in the semis. St. Francis' last trip to the NorCal final was in 2013, ending with a 25-23, 25-8, 29-27 sweep by Granite Bay. The Troubies have reached the state final twice: the 2005 D-III tourney at Saddleback College, which resulted in a 26-24, 25-21, 25-21 win over Rim of the World; and the 2012 D-I draw at Concordia of Irvine, which ended in a 25-11, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 loss to Marymount.
West Park, the Troubies' second opponent from their own Sac-Joaquin Section, improved to 31-6 for the year after a 25-8, 25-23, 25-14 sweep against Aragon. This will be the Panthers' second visit to SF's gym in 2025. The Troubies previously swept West Park on August 28 by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 25-14. It marked the first meeting between St. Francis and a school that will graduate just its fourth all-time senior class this spring.
A direct link to Saturday's tickets is now available on GoFan's platform and app. Streaming video will be found on the NFHS Network, with links to each also on GoTroubies.com.
