Saint Francis beats Mitty 3-1 in Northern California girls volleyball showdown

Erin Curtis and Taylor Williams combine for 39 kills to lead the Lancers in a battle of the top two teams in the Northern portion of the Golden State

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA — In Northern California’s best volleyball rivalry, Saint Francis of Mountain View avenged a league-opening road loss to Archbishop Mitty-San Jose on Wednesday with a home win, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18. 

However, the victory came in a most unusual way.

The Lancers charged out to a first-set lead. No surprise there, but Mitty flipped the script with a seven-point closing run to turn a 23-18 deficit into a 25-23 win. And the Monarchs led much of the second set.

• Video (at top) and photos by Jim Malone

Just before things became dire, the Lancers turned the tables. Saint Francis closed the second set on an 11-4 run to even the contest and rolled thereafter, never trailing in taking the final two sets.

“I’m so proud of our team for how we came back from the loss to them,” senior outside hitter Erin Curtis said. “That (Mitty) is a really good team. It was mental. We started playing fearless.”

Fearless came just in time, as a two-set deficit would have been very challenging. Solid defensive play led by libero Whitney Wallace allowed setter Hannah Maguire to find powerful hitters Curtis and Taylor Williams. 

Jaemysen Martin (9), Erin Curtis (6), Sacha Touma (10) and Whitney Wallace (5) among the Saint Francis players celebrating during Wednesday's four-game home win over Mitty. Photo: Jim Malone

Major contributions came in the middle from Sasha Touma and Ella Fulton. Most notably, the front-line blocking was stuffing Mitty, with big contributions from Touma, Fulton and Curtis, who also displayed a superb topspin serve that produced aces and otherwise kept Mitty out of system.

“Our motto for the week is to be fearless,” Merchen said. “Take big swings. We found some confidence. Our serving was a big part of it. We know that’s what we have to do to beat this team.”

The victory improved the Lancers’ record to 16-3 overall, 6-1 in West Catholic Athletic League play. Mitty fell to 15-3 overall, 4-1 in WCAL action. 

Saint Francis was led by Curtis with 22 kills and six aces and Williams with 16 kills and three blocks . The Monarchs were paced by Makenna Crosson with 14 kills and Katelyn Cook with 13 kills. Middle Amiya Kuchibhotla contributed seven blocks.

Mitty found success early in the night. Maya Baker was running the offense through powerful pin hitters Cook, Crosson and Isabella Romero and middle Kuchibhotla. Libero Nicole Macalintal led the defense.

“In the first set, we played 23 points of incredible volleyball,” Sainty Francis coach Lake Merchen said. “We just couldn’t close the game out.”

Mitty rallied and did close out the opening set. In the final charge, Cook scored off the block and pounded back to the floor a serve receive overpass. Macalintal served an ace for the winning point.

The Monarchs led most of the second set. After a Kuchibhotla bullet off the slide for a 17-14 lead, things changed. Curtis drilled four kills and served an ace in a 9-3 surge. The Lancers had taken control and soon won the set.

Isabella Romero (20) goes up for a kill against a tandem block from the Lancers. Photo: Jim Malone / File photo: Jim Malone

Saint Francis continued its sparkling play with a wire-to-wire third-set win, featuring the stellar play of Curtis, who ripped seven kills and added two more aces. A similar script described the fourth set.

“I think us losing to them was beneficial in a way,” Curtis said. “It gave us a chance to see what we needed to do.”

And everyone in the packed gym saw that on display, especially after the Lancers turned up the fearlessness late in the second set.

Curtis had four kills in the second game and added an ace, leading the Lancers from a 14-17 deficit to a 25-21 win. 

It was more Curtis in the third set with seven more kills and two aces as the home team took it, 25-21, to take a 2-1 games' lead. 

In last week's California Top 20 rankings, Saint Francis was No. 6 and Mitty No. 10. They entered a little humbled after playing in last weekend's Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, where St. Francis prevailed over Mitty 25-20, 22-25, 25-20 in pool play. 

Saint Francis beat Mitty six times last season en route to a 34-1 record and Northern California Open Division title. The Lancers lost in the state finals to Cathedral Catholic-San Diego 25-21, 25-16, 25-13 to finish 42-0 while winning a mythical national championship (see video above).

(All photos by Jim Malone)