St. Francis eats up win over Hilltoppers

Seeing improvement takes the sting out of losing, whether it's a game or the whole match.

Even after St. Francis rallied for a 20-25, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Glenbard West Wednesday night in Glen Ellyn, both coaches were looking on the bright side.

"Last time we were here we were down 10-1 in the first game, so we look on this as an improvement," Spartans coach Mike Lynch said.

Game 1 also showed how Glenbard West has improved; the Hilltoppers had never taken a game from St. Francis in the program's five seasons.

"We came out really strong," Hilltoppers coach Christine Giunta-Mayer said. "The kids were on fire. They couldn't stop our middles. Very organized. It was the first time I really saw the kids get really, really excited about a game."

Lynch also enjoyed watching backup setter Mark Roberts, in for the ill Mike Segneri, settle down and lead the Spartans' rally with 30 assists and 4 kills.

"I think he calmed down, used his hitters as we know that he could," Lynch said. "The first game was pretty obvious where the ball was going, he was slow and deliberate. Hitters worked harder for him so that there were more options there and he did a great job pushing the ball out to them."

After losing Game 1 St. Francis led most of the way in Game 2, though Glenbard West kept it close throughout, getting as close as 21-20.

Game 3 was tied at 10 when the Spartans (26-6) broke loose. With senior libero Mark Hale serving, the Spartans rolled to a 19-10 lead, including 3 Hale aces. The Hilltoppers (14-14) never got closer than 7 the rest of the way.

"That was a great lift for the team," Lynch said of Hale's serving run.

"In Game 3 our block fell apart," Giunta-Mayer said. "Our block was on all day and then Game 3 we lost our outside block. And once they figured that out, they're a very smart team, he's a really good coach, they figured it out really quick and we fell apart."

The teams put together the first of what they hope will become an annual "Feed the Need" match, asking fans to bring bags of canned goods for the local food pantry. More than 225 bags were brought to Biester Gym, which turned into a sea of red T-shirts celebrating the match.