St. Francis earns match against Joliet Catholic

With a year's worth of revenge on their minds, the St. Francis volleyball players were not about to let a chance at redemption slip away Tuesday night.

With their sights set on a showdown with top-seeded Joliet Catholic Academy in Thursday's 3A sectional championship, the Spartans first had to get past a 30-win Lemont squad in the semifinals in Wheaton. After a slight stumble in the opener, St. Francis (35-2) knocked off the Indians 25-16, 25-14 to set up the much-anticipated "pre-state title."

With a packed gym and a loud pep band, the Spartans grabbed a quick 6-0 lead behind 4 kills by Kelsey Robinson. But the Indians, who had their last two seasons ended in the sectional finals by JCA, regrouped to take a 10-8 lead following a winner by Emily Brown and a pair of Spartans errors.

"We definitely lost focus for a little bit," Robinson admitted. "We decided to take a breath and refocus. It was an awesome atmosphere."

After the early rough patch, St. Francis manhandled a determined but shorter Indians squad. Robinson led the way with 14 kills, but strong serving from Gina Madonia and great defense led by Katie Parisi's 12 digs also helped the Spartans earn their shot at JCA, which ended their season in the supersectional last fall.

"I can't wait. It's one of the games we've been waiting for since last year," Robinson said.

Madonia, whose nasty serves turned an 11-6 lead in Game 2 into a 20-6 advantage after 9 quick points, is also ready for a shot to avenge last year's setback to the Hilltoppers.

"As a team we've been waiting for this," the junior defensive specialist said. "We're so pumped and real excited."

Lemont coach Chris Zogata, who's seen more than her share of the Spartans and Hilltoppers in the last three postseasons, thinks Thursday's match will open the door to the state crown. She's also hoping that future sectionals are not quite so loaded.

"It's really disheartening," Zogata said. "We just keep getting struck here. We had our third consecutive 30-win season and it just stinks. Thursday night in my opinion is the state title match."

St. Francis coach Peg Kopec also expects a dandy match on Thursday between two of the state's top programs and two of the state's elite players - Robinson and JCA's Annemarie Hickey.

"We need to minimize our errors and not get rattled," Kopec said. "Everybody's going to get their kills. Annemarie's gonna get her kills and Kelsey's gonna get hers, but then what?"

After a year of waiting, they'll find out at 7 p.m. Thursday.