GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: St. Francis Rallies to Beat Spartans

The Score: St Francis 3, Mountain View 1

The Star: St. Francis High junior Taylor Formico fended off excellent hits by Mountain View and led her team with 40 assists in the Lancers' Central Coast Section Division II semifinal win at Woodside High.

The Turning Point: Mountain View, having already won the first set, led the second set 17-14 after a 7-0 run. St. Francis called a timeout and quickly regrouped. The Lancers went on an 11-6 run to win the set and gain the momentum.

The Quote: "Mountain View came out firing and did a great job coming out strong at the start. The girls settled down and figured out we had to make some adjustments, make a lot less errors." —St. Francis coach Leahi Hall.

What's Next? The second-seeded Lancers move on to the CCS Division II championship match against No. 1 seed Presentation on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Independence High in San Jose. The West Catholic Athletic League rivals will meet for the sixth time this year. Presentation leads the season series 3-2, but St. Francis has won the last two.

The Bottom Line: St. Francis reached its first CCS title match since 2008. The Lancers are seeking their first section championship since they won the Division III crown in 2003 against Presentation, 3-0.

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The St. Francis High girls volleyball team struggled with Mountain View's serves early but was able to turn it around to prevail in the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals. The Lancers won 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-12 at Woodside High to advance to their first championship match in two years.

Second-seeded St. Francis meets No. 1 seed Presentation on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Independence High in San Jose.

"Mountain View came out firing and did a great job coming out strong at the start," said St. Francis coach Leahi Hall "The girls settled down and figured out we had to make some adjustments, make a lot less errors."

Third-seeded Mountain View began the match on fire. The Spartans (18-9) took an early 12-6 lead, forcing St. Francis to call a timeout.

"Every timeout we talked about passing the ball, start with a good pass to get into our offense," said St. Francis junior setter Taylor Formico.

The passing came to fruition after the timeout. The Lancers (28-5) came out refocused and went on a 13-5 run to take a 19-18 lead.

But it would be short lived. After a Mountain View timeout, the Spartans went on a 7-3 run of their own to take the set 25-22. The momentum shifted on a block by Katie Robinson.

"I cannot comment enough about how tough their serves were," said Hall. "Serving is one of the most important things about volleyball and anytime you can serve tough, it makes it incredibly hard on your opponent."

The service defense from St. Francis improved in the second set. The Lancers jumped out to an early 14-10 lead before Mountain View took some of the momentum back by winning the next seven points.

"Our offense was going well because our service defense was solid at the beginning," said Mountain View coach Jason Trip. "Our serving was tough and that really kept us in it."

Following another Lancer timeout, St. Francis went on a 6-3 run to retake the lead and this time held on to take the set.

With the third set tied at seven, the Lancer defense led to an 18-10 run, giving St. Francis a 24-16 lead. The eight-point lead was the largest by either team at the time.

"Once our service (defense) started dwindling, we definitely had offensive breakdown," said Trip. "St. Francis is going to put pressure on you. That kind of team is deep and has multiple ways to adjust."

St. Francis junior Taylor Deaton led the Lancers with 16 kills. Senior Caroline Walters chipped in with 12 kills.

St. Francis is 2-3 against Presentation this season, having won the last two meetings, including the West Catholic Athletic League tournament championship game. The last time St. Francis won the CCS title was in 2003 against Presentation.

"Whoever stays consistent throughout the game, whoever makes less errors, is going to win," said Formico, who finished with 40 assists Wednesday night.