St. Francis wins Early Bird again

With stifling heat inside the Fremd High School gymnasium, the officials for the Early Bird girls volleyball tournament stopped each game after 25 combined points for a water break.

Despite the sauna-like conditions, St. Francis’ players chose to wear their black long-sleeve jerseys as opposed to their short-sleeve blue shirts.

“We feel they make us look tougher,” said Spartans middle blocker Daiva Wise. “They make us a lot more competitive and tougher.”

There was no denying that quality in the St. Francis girls on Saturday.

Despite losing a lopsided Set 2 and then falling behind 6-1 in Set 3, the Spartans rebounded for a 25-22, 14-25 25-21 triumph over St. Charles East in the championship match of the 16-team tourney.

It marked the second straight year St. Francis topped the Saints (7-2) for the Early Bird crown.

“Because we won this, we now get to wear black socks,” Wise said. “And if we win another tough match, we’ll get to wear black knee pads.”

It looks like the Spartans will be wining a lot of matches this season. They improved to 6-0 after the title match.

St. Francis took its first lead in Set 3 at 12-11 on a kill by Maddie Defino (8 digs).

The Spartans led 17-16 before Carly Warner (4 kills, 17 assists, 2 aces, 7 digs) served 5 straight points for a 22-16 cushion, taking advantage of 3 hitting errors by the Saints.

Getting blocks from Kathleen Dailey and Erienne Barry, and a kill by Meghan Niski, St. Charles closed to within 23-21.

But St. Francis closed it out with a kill by senior Haley Gable (4 blocks) and hitting error by the Saints.

Wise, who had 9 kills and 4 blocks, said practice sessions gave the Spartans the confidence to rally in Set 3.

“We play 18 to 20-point sets and we know what it’s like to come back,” she said. “We can’t miss our serves, we must pick everything up in those practice sets. So when those situations come up in our matches, we know are ready.”

The Toledo-bound Wise was ready to compete in all five matches of the tourney as she totaled 31 kills, 9 blocks, 27 service points and 6 digs.

Warner, a Cincinnati recruit, collected 23 kills, 9 blocks, 21 service points, 64 assists and 18 digs in the tourney.

In the title match, Grace Churney also produced 8 kills for the Spartans.

“It’s fair to say we struggled in Set 2,” said Spartans Hall of Fame coach Peg Kopec. “But the mark of a good team is that even though it struggles, it’s still able to come back. When one thing didn’t work, we tried something else.”

Niski led the Saints with 13 kills, followed by Nicole Woods (10), Nichole Lambert (6), Caitlyn Ballard (6) and Dailey (5). Setters Stephanie Camper and Barry each recorded 17 assists directing the offense.

“We didn’t finish,” said East coach Jennie Kull. “It has nothing to do with our skills. It’s just something we have to figure out.”

Saints senior libero Maisey Mulvey sparked the back row with 3 digs and served a pair of aces.

“We played so consistently throughout and then to have this happen at the end is disappointing,” Kull added. “But we’ve lost to two good teams now (Benet and St. Francis). The championship here would be nice to have, but we’re here to play the best teams we can.”

St. Francis certainly is one of the best.

“I guess our slogan was ‘find a way to win,’ ” Kopec said. “It’s not always conventional but these girls found a way.”