Watch Replay on TroubieTV

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis volleyball team completed the preseason with two home wins this week, posting a five-set win over Rocklin on Tuesday and a three-set sweep over El Camino on Wednesday.

“We had a lot of energy and we were more confident in ourselves (tonight),” said junior Kathryn Kramer, who led the team with a team-best tying 12 kills in the win over the Eagles. She was named the TroubieTV Player of the Game for her performance.

St. Francis (7-2) cruised in the opening set 25-5. The Eagles led early in the second set but still fell 25-13. SF closed out the match with a 25-9 third set.

The Troubadours open league play at Grant on Monday.

“I am so excited for league,” said Kramer. “Our team has got a lot better since the beginning of the season. We are going to show for league and we want to bring home a banner.”

The week started with a comeback in five sets over Rocklin Tuesday night. The Troubadours dropped the first two sets, showing a little fatigue after a busy weekend at the High Sierra Invitational in Reno.

“In the first two sets we had a lot of mental errors and hitting errors,” said Head Coach Alynn Wright.

After some blocking adjustments and change in attitude, the team rebounded with a spirited third set.

“We have this light switch and we put it in the middle of the huddle and turn it on and go crazy,” said Kramer. “The hype and energy helped us win the next two.”

Sophomore Alexa Edwards led the team with 29 kills and Kramer added 18 in the comeback. Mady Schildmeyer and sophomore Jesiree Moral combined for 64 assists.

“I am really proud of them because Rocklin is a very well-coached team,” said Wright. “They play very scrappy defense and we made a few adjustments on our blocking scheme and started blocking balls. Then we were channeling the hitters into our diggers. Aubrey (Kenny), Sam (Chavez) and Carly (Simpson) played some great defense and we started terminating.”

Kenny led the team with 23 digs, while senior Carly Simpson chipped in 13 and junior Sam Chavez had nine.  Edwards had 18 to record the double-double.

“Once we got going, we stepped up our offense a lot and we got a lot of kills (across the net) on the outside, middle and right side,” said Kramer

St. Francis won the third 25-20, preventing the home sweep and then tied it up with a 25-14 victory in the fourth. The Troubies never trailed in the fifth in winning 15-8.

“They went after them and took it to them in the fifth set,” said Wright.

Tonight’s match opened with a prayer for #HurrianeHarvey relief. The SF community raised $2,514.84 today for Catholic Charities, USA, who are assisting with recover efforts. All proceeds from today’s match will be added to the total donation by the school.