St. Francis sweeps into sectional championship match
The St. Francis girls volleyball team knew it would receive Riverside-Brookfield's best shot Tuesday night in its sectional semifinal matchup with the Bulldogs.
The two teams met in the middle of October in the Pumpkin Tournament, with the Spartans taking a pair of hard-fought 25-18 games.
As was the case nearly three weeks ago, the Spartans once again prevailed, earning a 25-21, 25-12 victory to vault themselves into the Class 3A Nazareth Academy sectional final.
Riverside-Brookfield held an early 9-4 lead in Game 1 before the Spartans (31-7) came roaring back with a 10-2 run to take a 14-11 lead.
A brief 2-1 deficit in the second game marked the only other time St. Francis trailed after the streak.
"They always come out ready to play," Spartans junior Kelsey Robinson said of the Bulldogs. "We all just had to dig deep and focus on what we needed to do."
St. Francis managed to eliminate early jitters while raising its focus, leading to much smoother sailing in Game 2.
"I think we were more relaxed. I think in the first game we didn't play our game," Robinson said. "The second game we just relaxed, got ready to play our game, and we knew what we were going to do."
Robinson, who led all players with a match-high 10 kills, credited team communication for a crisper Game 2 win.
"Basically our back row told us where to hit in the second game, and helped us a lot with our shots," she said.
The key for Spartans coach Peg Kopec was higher efficiency on offense, as St. Francis pounded 12 kills in the second game alone.
"I thought they played great, exceptional defense, in the first and second match," Kopec said. "We just started putting balls down a little bit better."
Riverside-Brookfield (29-9) coach Dan Bonarigo said his team should feel no shame in being ousted by the defending state runner-up.
"I really thought just a couple touches here and there, and it would've gone our way," Bonarigo said. "Give all the credit to them, because they've got the experience and they know how to win big games.
"I'm not ashamed of losing to them, because that team has an excellent chance of going and winning the state championship. If you've got to lose to somebody, I guess that's an OK team to lose to."