St. Francis shows Florida team how good it is
It's almost unfair at times trying to defend St. Francis' powerful girls volleyball attack.
Opponents know darn well they want to try and slow Wisconsin-bound outside hitter Molly Haggerty, a task easier said than done. But the 22-2 Spartans are by no means a one-trick pony.
On Thursday night, Berkeley Preparatory School from Tampa, Fla., came to Wheaton and learned just how deep and talented the Spartans are. Berkeley dropped a 25-14, 25-17 match that served as a tuneup for each school for this weekend's ASICS Challenge at Mother McAuley.
Haggerty, a 6-foot-1 senior All-American, recorded 6 kills in the opener and finished the night with 11 kills, many of which came down so quickly and viciously that the Buccaneers couldn't get a defender close to the ball. But Kamryn Malloy one-upped her teammate on this night, dominating in the first game and finishing with a match-high 15 kills.
“We really focus on moving the ball around, so it's not just Molly and I hitting outside,” said Kamryn, who recorded the night's first kill and later gave the Spartans a 10-3 lead in the opener by slamming down a set from Daniele Messa. “We work the middle and right side, so it's really coming at them from all different angles.”
St. Francis coach Peg Kopec, who has been blessed to have three Haggertys star for the Spartans over the years, is very fortunate to have Molly for final season and to have the Malloy twins — Kamryn and middle hitter Delaney — on her side as well.
“Kamryn Malloy might be the most underrated player in the state,” Kopec said after watching yet another strong effort from the 6-foot junior. “She's pretty good, and as a team we played well tonight.”
With Haggerty and Kamryn combining for 26 kills and Delaney Malloy adding 8 more, the St. Francis attack was just too much for Berkeley (8-4).
“That's a good team,” Buccaneers coach John Coup said. “They're very well-coached and they're really good in system. And we kept them in system most of the night.”
Berkley senior Madison Jenkins provided a spark for the Florida school with 11 kills, but fast starts by St. Francis in each game proved too costly to overcome. After storming ahead 16-4 in Game 1, the Spartans built leads of 7-2 and 16-4 again in the second game en route to the sweep.
“I thought we fought well, but we just gave up those early runs of about 8 points in each game and that killed us,” Coup said. “This was fun. We're still a young team and it was a good experience to come out and go up against a seasoned team.”
Haggerty, looking forward to a strong showing this weekend at the 25-team event and then another deep postseason run, likes the way the Spartans are playing lately.
“We wanted to get us in a good groove for this weekend,” she said. “We've been working a lot in practice at moving me and Kamryn around to confuse other teams and the blockers. I think we're improving a lot in each practice. Obviously our goal is to go downstate and win state and we're preparing for that.”