St. Francis claims sectional title, drops Wheaton Academy

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – St. Francis junior Mackenzie Krzus had to watch from the stands last season as the Spartans won the Class 3A state title.

Krzus, who had to sit out because she had transferred from Wheaton Warrenville South, watched her new team celebrate and knew she wanted to be part of that.

"It was definitely really inspiring last year," Krzus said. "I watched everyone celebrate and was ready for that challenge."

Krzus was very ready and so were her Spartans teammates as they swept Wheaton Academy 26-24, 25-20 Thursday to win the Class 3A St. Viator Sectional title.

St. Francis (27-12), which is seeking its third consecutive Class 3A title, will play Prairie Ridge in a supersectional at 6 p.m. Monday at Grayslake Central. Prairie Ridge also won in two sets, beating Crystal Lake South 25-15, 25-21.

"It is a lot of pressure," said St. Francis coach Lisa Ston, who returned just two starters from last season's team.

"It is great to be able to go through this journey with them. Every team is different, but pressure is sometimes a privilege."

Wheaton Academy (28-7), which lost a close match in the final week of the season to St. Francis, came in ready. The Warriors, who had qualified for the sectional finals for the first time in 15 years, kept things close in the first set.

Neither team led by more than a point as the first set was tied at 13-13. The Warriors then rattled off four consecutive points to surge ahead.

St. Francis responded to pull ahead on a kill and block point by Emma Delaney, a kill by Addy Horner and two kills by Krzus to pull ahead 18-17.

St. Francis pulled ahead 24-22 on a kill by Horner. The Warriors got a kill by Katelyn Kulesza and a long hit that was ruled out to tie at 24-24.

St. Francis put the game away on kills by Horner and Krzus to win the first set 26-24.

In the second set, the Warriors jumped out to a 7-2 lead behind Kierra Morrison and Kiana Shields. St. Francis chipped away at the lead behind Delaney, Meg Taylor and Krzus and pulled ahead 12-11. Solid serving by Maddie Lenox gave the Warriors a 16-12 lead.

That's when Horner took over.

Horner had just one kill out of her team's first 12 points. The Wisconsin-commit would then score 8 of her team's final 13 points as the Spartans pulled away for the 25-20 win.

"I think playing them once was good," said Horner, who would finish the match with 14 kills. "We were a little more prepared. I think my teammates set me up real well. The passers did a real good job."

Krzus had 7 kills for the Spartans while Jenna Glauser and Delaney each had four kills and Kulesza had two kills.

"We work a lot in practice on five-point games and not letting teams get runs," Ston said. "We try to play smarter and not harder in those situations. We did a nice job of getting a sideout when we needed it."

Morrison led Wheaton Academy with eight kills. Shields had five kills, Kulesza had three and Riley McDonald two.

"They played fantastically well," Wheaton Academy coach Leah Dunlap said. "We struggled to pass. It was a great season. We graduate nine seniors and they are very special. But our JV team was great and freshmen as well, so the future is bright."