SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior outside hitter Hailey Sutton pounded out 11 kills but the rest of her team totaled just 13 as St. Francis lost to Rocklin in three sets, 25-17, 25-18, 25-21, in a Sierra Foothill League girls' volleyball season opener and the battle of the Sac-Joaquin Section's top undefeated teams Monday night.
The Troubadours slip to 13-1 for the season, and begin SFL play at 0-1. The Thunder, which largely played teams from outside the area in the preseason, improves to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in league. The two teams entered the match ranked No. 5 and No. 2, respectively, on MaxPreps.
Sutton committed just three errors in her 33 attack attempts for a .242 average. Junior opposite Gilly Glikman hit 5-1-19 for the match as the only other SF player with more than two kills. In fact, the Troubies managed just six kills in the second set, with eight of their points coming as a result of Rocklin serve errors or attacking errors.
St. Francis righted the ship in the third, scoring 10 kills and taking as much as a 10-8 lead when Brynley Magley's serve rolled over the tape for an ace. However, the Thunder countered with eight of the next 10 points to claim a 16-12 lead. A Glikman kill from the right side, a Katie Kramer ace and a Mercy Collier kill (thanks to a Rocklin net violation) brought the Troubies back to within a one-point deficit at 16-15. However, Rocklin allowed its host no further, pulling away to complete the sweep despite three Sutton kills down the final stretch.
Kelsey Granner and Malia Fat led the floor defense with nine digs apiece, while Marissa Jensen and Layla Hernandez patrolled the net to the tune of two blocks.
Prior to the varsity finale, St. Francis' frosh and junior varsity each claimed straight-set wins against their respective RHS counterparts. Michaela Forman tallied four kills while Hayley Vu served up four of the Troubies' 12 aces in the freshies' 25-4, 25-12 sweep. Then in the JV match, Lyla Faruzzi's four aces and Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert's six kills led the way in the Troubies' 25-9, 25-9 victory. Sophomore Sophie Yiakis also put down four kills in the second set to spark the win.
The St. Francis frosh and JV squads improve to 10-0 and 11-1, respectively.
All three teams continue the first week of SFL play in a road tripleheader at defending SJS champs Folsom. The subvarsity squads play concurrently at 5:30, with varsity following with a scheduled 6:30 first serve.
