SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Malia Fat scooped up 25 digs while junior outside hitter Hailey Sutton posted a double-double of 12 kills with 16 digs, but St. Francis managed just five kills with as many errors in the decisive fifth set, losing by scores of 20-25, 25-17, 24-26, 25-21, 15-7 in the varsity finale of a Sierra Foothill League girls' volleyball tripleheader against Del Oro Monday night.
The Troubadours slip to 15-3 overall with a 2-3 mark in SFL matches. The Golden Eagles improve to 19-3 for the season with a 3-2 record in league play. The two teams were respectively ranked seventh and third in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps entering the week.
The varsity loss finished a night of volleyball that saw the maximum number of sets, with SF frosh and junior varsity teams each winning in split sets. The Troubie freshies won 25-23, 23-25, 15-10; while the jayvees prevailed by scores of 25-18, 24-26, 15-8. In fact, the two subvarsity matches took so long that the first serve of varsity did not take place until 7:46 p.m. – 76 minutes after the 6:30 scheduled start.
Sutton also served up three of her team's nine aces in the match. Junior Sophia Palmeri came one dig shy from providing a second double-double, tallying a match-high 13 kills with nine digs. Kelsey Granner chipped in another 12 digs, with Chloe Johnson stepping in for eight digs to go with her two aces. Across five sets, the St. Francis defense scooped up 84 digs.
As a team, St. Francis hit .160 (48-21-169) for the match, oddly compiling a .300 average in a losing fourth set. However, the Troubies had just five kills and five attacking errors in the fifth for a .000 clip.
Middle blockers Mercy Collier (5-0-9) and Marissa Jensen (3-0-8) combined for a .471 hitting average on the 17 attempts, with Jensen contributing on four of her team's nine stuff blocks.
St. Francis held a 14-12 lead in the fourth after opposite Gilly Glikman turned back an errant pass reception for a kill. The Golden Eagles responded with an 8-1 run to assume a 20-15 lead. Layla Hernandez later twice scored kills to pull the Troubies within a two-point deficit at 20-22 then later 21-23, only for Kynslee Martin's offspeed shot to fall in for set point. Libero Lily Smith, who recorded the rare dig-kill in the earlier comeback run, finished the fourth with an ace.
The two teams battled to six straight ties in the fifth before DO pulled away down the stretch. Setter Bella Rasi and middle blocker Sydney Weber teamed up for two blocks in a 7-0 Golden Eagle run to close out the win.
St. Francis continues SFL play at Oak Ridge on Wednesday. The frosh and junior varsity matches play concurrently at 5:30 p.m., with varsity following at 6:30 in Trojan Arena.
