Don’t expect the undefeated St. Francis High girls volleyball team to get overconfident because of its sweeping success against league rival and defending NorCal champ Mitty.
“It’s nice to be 2-0 against them, but we’ve been here before,” coach Lake Merchen said a day after his team’s 25-21, 25-23, 25-23 home win Oct. 4. “We know they’ll get better, and they have a great coach in Jon Wallace. It will be harder every time we play them.”
Merchen’s comments came before the Lancers swept the Monarchs for a third time – in Saturday’s Stockton Classic final – but it’s doubtful his sentiment has changed. He hasn’t forgotten what happened last year: St. Francis beat Mitty two out of three times in the regular season, only to fall to the Monarchs in the section and regional finals.
Merchen was an assistant coach on that St. Francis team, which went 20-12 overall and took third in the West Catholic Athletic League. He was promoted to replace Mike Rubin after he stepped down at season’s end.
Merchen inherited a squad that graduated all-leaguers Madison Pietsch (206 kills), Lanuola Saulala (73 blocks) and Lauren Scheffler (196 kills) but returned several high-caliber players. They include 2021 all-leaguer and kill leader Erin Curtis and fellow outside hitter Taylor Williams, who is just behind Curtis in that category this year.
“Those two are pretty elite,” Merchen said of the juniors. “They’re the biggest reason why we’ve had success, but everyone contributes at a real high hitting percentage.”
Curtis led the Lancers with 14 kills in Saturday’s 25-19, 25-20 win over Mitty in Stockton, where St. Francis went 4-0 to improve to 24-0 overall. Williams added six kills.
Another junior, libero Whitney Wallace, is on her way to leading the Lancers in digs for the second straight season.
“When you watch Taylor Williams, Erin Curtis and Whitney Wallace play, you forget they’re juniors,” Merchen said. “It’s exciting to think how much better they’ll get next year.”
The coach added that St. Francis “is not senior heavy,” with only three among the top eight players: Havannah Hoeft, Faith Crouch and Sammy Franco.
Setter Hoeft has already surpassed 500 assists, and middle blocker Crouch tops the team in blocks. Right-side hitter Franco “is new to the position,” Merchen said of the former middle blocker, “but not to the stage or the level.” She ranks second in blocks and is the Lancers’ “most impactful” server, according to Merchen.
St. Francis – which has swept all eight of its league matches and has lost just two sets all season – is set to visit Mitty (5-1 league, 21-6 overall) 6 p.m. Oct. 26 to wrap up WCAL play.
