St. Francis gets first win for coach Ston
One down, 1,237 more to go.
Lisa Ston likely won't catch former St. Francis coach Peg Kopec on Illinois' all-time win list, but she did break into the win column in just her second match as coach Monday when the Spartans defeated Glenbard South 25-22, 24-13 in Glen Ellyn.
"It was great to have my first win," said Ston, who served as Kopec's assistant for the past 16 years. "(Kopec) did a great job of letting me coach. I ran practice and did that kind of stuff. Still, she was the one who stood there during the game and made all the final decisions.
"But it's fine, it's great," she added. "I'm having a great time."
St. Francis (1-1) was led by Laney Malloy's 7 kills and 2 aces. With her sister and last year's second-leading attacker, Kamryn, sidelined for the season with an ACL injury, Laney Malloy will be asked to play a bigger role for the Spartans.
"I've always played kind of a quiet role ever since I was young, but I'm excited this year to finally see my time to shine," Laney Malloy said. "It would have been really fun to have my sister out there with me, but I just need to expand my role and mature as a player."
Six-foot-1 freshman Anna Calcagno contributed 6 kills and 2 aces and will be counted on to provide help on the outside.
"Hitting outside is a lot of pressure for a freshman," Ston said. "But she's doing a great job and fulfilling a key role for us."
Alexia Byrnes-Hosey added 17 assists and 2 aces, Cat Wilson had 4 kills and a block and Rebecca Fernandez and Calcagno both had 6 digs for St. Francis.
"Even though we have six or seven returning varsity players, we do have a lot of new faces that can play important roles on this team," Malloy said. "It's about them gaining more experience. It's about them learning to play at this level. It's totally different than what they played before."
A kill by junior middle hitter Bailee Flanagan got Glenbard South (2-4) within 23-21 in Game 1, but Malloy ended the drama with her fifth kill of the set.
"We had opportunities in the first game," said Glenbard South coach Chad Grant. "I thought they we did a pretty good job blocking. They beat us with a lot of tips and we didn't do a good job of picking those up and adjusting. I thought we were digging them for the most part on their hard stuff."
The Raiders led 4-1 early in Game 2, but St. Francis answered with a 15-4 run and the hosts never recovered.
Becca Bauman led Glenbard South with 5 kills and block, Claire Werner added 15 assists, and Allie Sims contributed 10 digs.
"I thought our offense was really good when we were able to pass the ball," Grant said. "Claire did a good job getting us 1-on-1s and our hitters were doing a really good job putting the ball away, but we just didn't get enough of those opportunities in the second game."