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St. Francis completes another three-peat

NORMAL - When Mary Boken graduates from St. Francis and heads off to play volleyball and study at Clemson, she will take with her an accolade no other girls volleyball player in IHSA history has achieved.

But then that's what players at St. Francis do - achieve things no others have.

Boken had 8 kills and St. Francis, as usual, spread the wealth on offense while playing its normally tough defense in a 25-18, 25-23 win over Joliet Catholic on Saturday night for the Class 3A championship at Redbird Arena.

While the Spartans (38-4) won their third straight state title and the 11th in program history, the 6-foot-2 Boken became the first IHSA girls volleyball player to earn four state medals.

"It's been an amazing experience at St. Francis," said Boken, a freshman when the Spartans took third place in 2011 before running off the last three state titles, amassing a 149-19 record the last four years.

"I couldn't be more grateful to be part of this program. I'm just really thankful for everything these four years."

St. Francis, playing in its 19th state final tournament, left little doubt in either game against a Joliet Catholic team the Spartans have forged a scintillating rivalry with over the years.

The Spartans, who three-peated for the second time (2002-2004 in Class A), jumped out to an 8-1 lead in Game 1. They never let Joliet Catholic get closer than three points the rest of the way and no closer than four after taking a 16-11 lead on an Angels error. St. Francis closed the first game on a Boken kill off an assist from junior Daniele Messa, whose 28 assists gave her 67 for the two state tournament matches.

Game 2 was much of the same as St. Francis led 6-1 before Joliet Catholic (25-17) gained a 7-7 tie. But then a kill by junior Molly Haggerty made it 8-7, a lead the Spartans never relinquished.

"We just stay calm in tough situations," said Haggerty, committed to Nebraska. "We just focus on each other and the next play."

The Spartans' biggest lead of the second game was 18-13. Joliet Catholic closed to within 23-22 and 24-23, but a kill to the middle of an open court by Haggerty, who had a team-high 9 in the match, gave St. Francis the state championship.

"We executed the game plan pretty well," said St. Francis coach Peg Kopec, now the owner of 1,206 wins. "We established some blocking and that helped a lot to turn back their initial offense. Our defense held pretty solid, and that's what I've been concerned about all year."

Seniors Mary Murphy and Maddie Naal led Joliet Catholic with 7 kills each.

"We knew what we were going up against with St. Francis," said Angels coach Christine Scheibe. "Their hitters are amazing. Our block was there, we just couldn't do anything about it because they're that good."

Sophomore Kamryn Malloy added 8 kills and 6 digs for the Spartans, senior Sarah Musienga had 5 kills and Haggerty added 7 digs as St. Francis took home its 18th state trophy since 1987.

"It's pretty exciting," said Kopec, who completed her 39th year as the only volleyball coach the school has known. "It's a little surreal. There's just no feeling like it. It's pretty special."

Images: Class 3A Volleyball Finals

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