GRANITE BAY, Calif. – The fourth time was still not the charm. Playing for a berth in the CIF State Championship game for the second consecutive season, the St. Francis Troubadour volleyball team lost in the Northern California final to Granite Bay 3-0 Tuesday night.

“Give credit to Granite Bay,” said Head Coach Alynn Wright. “They are a very good serving team and they took us out of our offense. They played good defense. I was proud of the girls for the way that they fought back. It shows their character and heart that they were not willing to give up.”

The Grizzlies advance to Saturday’s state final against Los Alamitos, who advanced with a sweep of Mater Dei 25-23, 25-16, 25-20. Granite Bay won all four matchups with St. Francis this season.

Despite posting a sweep for the second straight match against St. Francis, the match was highly contested and swung on key points in the first and third sets.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first set before the Troubies bounced back to take a 9-8 lead. The set featured nine ties and five lead changes before Granite Bay won 25-23. Riding the momentum, Granite Bay cruised to a 25-8 win in the second set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
But St. Francis was not done fighting to defend their Northern California championship. The Troubadours took a late 17-16 lead as the teams exchanged points down the stretch. St. Francis had four set points with a chance to get back in the match but the Grizzlies held on for a 29-27 to remain undefeated on the season at 44-0.

“It was not meant to be this year for this team,” said Wright, “I am really proud of this team for how hard they fought and worked day in and day out at practice. It is disappointing, especially for the seniors. I am very proud of them. I want to wish Granite Bay good luck. Of any team this year, they can do it.”

St. Francis finishes the season at 34-9, winning the Delta River League title and finishing second in both the Sac-Joaquin Section and CIF Northern California playoffs.