Volleyball

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Bumps and bruises are her specialty but Kelly Ketcham brings much more to the St. Francis High School community.

Ketcham was named the Assistant AD for Sports Medicine for the St. Francis Athletics Department staff recently after working with the Troubadour student-athletes and teams as the school’s athletic trainer for the last four years. The title was effective in November 2013.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Three St. Francis seniors were named the Delta River League Player of the Year for their respective sports following the fall season.

Ali Koumelis earned the honor for volleyball after leading her team to the Delta River League title, the Northern California finals in the CIF State Tournament and runner-up at the Sac-Joaquin Section Tournament.  Koumelis, who signed to play at Portland, joined teammates Anna Baytosh, Lea Felton, Chloe Hakim and Megan Sullivan on the Delta River All-League team.

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.”

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The second-seeded St. Francis volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win over Lowell Tuesday night in the first round of the Northern California bracket 25-18, 25-17, 25-17.

“We passed better and involved all the hitters,” said Head Coach Alynn Wright. “It was a very balanced attack. We played some good defense. Lowell was a very scrappy, well-disciplined team.”

DAVIS, Calif. – Top seed and No. 1 ranked Granite Bay won the Sac-Joaquin Section title with a 25-13, 25-20, 25-11 win over No. 2 seed St. Francis. The Troubadours had won the last two section titles, including a win over Granite Bay last season.

“They were trying way too hard and I think they thought they had something to prove,” said Head Coach Alynn Wright. “Granite Bay played a great match, their defense was stellar and they put up a tremendous block. Obviously, we have things to work on in practice.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis volleyball team advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section championship with a 3-0 win over St. Mary’s of Stockton Tuesday night. The Troubadours will face state No. 1 ranked Granite Bay at 6 p.m.

“I feel so proud of my teammates and am so happy with the game we played tonight,” said senior Karson Bisharat, who finished with five kills and three blocks. “We supported each other and it was a lot of fun.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals with a straight set (25-14, 25-18, 25-18) win over Rodriguez Thursday night.

“I thought we played tremendous,” said Head Coach Alynn Wright. “It was a great team win. I thought everyone played really well.”

Anna Baytosh had 10 kills and setter Ali Koumelis tallied 28 assists. Noa Nightingale had nine kills and Megan Sullivan added seven kills.

“We were firing on all cylinders,” said Wright. “Every single one of them was on. The work in practice is paying off.”