Girls volleyball: St. Francis withstands Glenbard South rally
Glenbard South wanted more. St. Francis decided enough was enough.
St. Francis withstood a pair of spirited Glenbard South rallies in the third set, squeaking out a 25-20, 22-25, 25-21 victory Thursday at the Class 3A St. Francis girls volleyball regional final.
"We did get frustrated, but we just kept our cool and we knew that if we stayed together and worked together that we would pull through," Spartans senior Ashley Zulauf said.
The Spartans will play Nazareth at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Glenbard South sectional semifinals.
"We knew they were going to be tough," Spartans coach Lisa Ston said of the Raiders. "We had played them at the Plainfield Central tournament and they didn't have (Kathleen Millett) and they didn't have Maggie Bair, who makes a ton of difference. Both of them do. ... So we knew when they came in the gym dressed today it was going to be a great match."
Third-seeded St. Francis (27-10) won the first set by taking the lead at 11-10, building a 4-point margin and making that stand up for the win.
No. 6 seed Glenbard South won the second set by taking the lead for good at 2-1, building a 14-7 advantage, then withstanding a furious Spartans rally.
"We came here to win this game today. We believed we could win," Raiders coach Chad Grant said. "I think both teams deserved better. This is probably an Elite Eight-caliber type of matchup. It's just the way the sectionals are drawn out."
The third set was a little bit of a combination of the first two.
The 12-time state champion Spartans jumped out to an 8-0 lead, with the Raiders seeming to have exhausted all their energy holding off St. Francis at the end of the second set.
"We just had to focus on our serve-receive, because that is what was killing us," Zulauf said. "And then our defense as well. What worked for us was just moving the ball around and tipping and hitting those deep shots."
Once the Raiders scored their first point, however, they regained their adrenaline.
"My kids battled their tails off, though," Grant said. "... How many teams are going to fold against St. Francis at that point? A lot. We hung in there. We chipped away."
They climbed back to within a point as senior Isabel Santana served six straight points. They cut the Spartans' lead to 18-17 when Santana came up with two big digs and sophomore Alex Wilharm finished the point with a block kill.
"They had Maggie in the front row in that point in time, and you know she can score at will," Ston said. "It is nerve-wracking, but you have to be confident in your team and their abilities, and thankfully we came out on top."
Now it was St. Francis' turn to defend a lead. Zulauf came up with a kill to end the Glenbard South run. Spartans senior Katelyn Hanrahan ended the match with a pair of kills.
The Raiders finished 17-20 despite a very strong schedule and a slew of injuries. The regional final was one of the Raiders' only matches with a full lineup.
"This has been an incredibly tough season for us," Grant said.