Girls volleyball: St. Francis headed back to state to defend title
Technical difficulties before the start of Friday night's Class 3A Antioch girls volleyball supersectional empowered all - players, coaches, officials and spectators - to sing the national anthem a cappella.
The warbling continued after St. Francis' 25-8, 25-20 defeat of Belvidere North.
Folks sang St. Francis' praises.
"Their players don't make errors," impressed Belvidere North coach Amanda Hicks said of the reigning 3A state champions. "They play very clean volleyball."
The Spartans (33-8) were super pristine in the first set after trailing 2-1. St. Francis senior right-side hitter/setter and Wisconsin-bound Addy Horner (6 kills, 12 assists) struck 3 of her 4 aces during a dominant stretch in which she served 12 consecutive points.
St. Francis led 16-3 and went up 22-7 on another ace, this one delivered by senior setter KK Dumpit (10 assists, 6 digs).
"We executed and served aggressively," said Spartans coach Lisa Ston, whose talent-laden crew will face Morton - a 25-21, 25-17 victor over Providence Catholic at Friday night's Kankakee supersectional - in a 3A state semifinal at 5:30 p.m. next Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal.
Dumpit's sneaky power tip secured the penultimate point of the first set.
In set 2, Belvidere North (32-7) showed resolve early and late. The Blue Thunder trailed 9-6, fell behind 19-9, and then got as close as 23-18. An ace by senior Bree Messenger (3 kills, 4 digs) highlighted a 9-4 spurt.
But St. Francis - possessor of 13 girls volleyball state championship plaques - was too strong, too nimble, too resilient. And way too good.
"Our energy was high because of how well we were serving and communicating," said Spartans senior libero Catherine D'Orazio, who catapulted her 5-foot-7 frame to reach a sinking, shallow dig and prolong a second-set point won by St. Francis.
"We put in a ton of work this season, and we're peaking at the right time," added the 6-3 Horner.
Senior outside hitter Anna Paquette ranked second among Spartans in kills with 5, followed by junior middle Emma Delaney (4), senior hitter Gabs Rendina (3), senior middle Addy Jones (3) and 6-0 OH Shay McMillen (2).
D'Orazio paced her club in digs with 13. Paquette and senior defensive specialist Liv Basel finished with 8 and 7, respectively.
Jones popped for a team-high 3 blocks, one more than Rendina's total.
"It's a pretty determined group," Ston said of her squad, which features 10 seniors. "So many know the feeling of playing downstate, and there's no better feeling than playing on the final weekend of the season."