By MARC RAIMONDI
It didn’t take St. Francis Prep long to exact revenge.
Three days after Archbishop Molloy ended SFP’s six-year league winning streak, the Terriers swept the Stanners 25-17, 26-24, 25-20 in a CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I first-place volleyball tiebreaker Friday night in Briarwood. St. Francis will now be the top seed in the playoffs as it tries to win a fifth straight title, while Molloy will be No. 2.
This victory, Terriers Coach Kevin Colucci said, will give his team a little bit of a confidence boost and help erase the memory of Oct. 18’s loss.
“The girls needed that,” he said. “It’s high school girls. The mental game is definitely a big factor.”
Kelly Flynn led the way with eight kills and six blocks and Talia Colasante had a terrific all-around match with eight kills, 11 digs, two blocks and four aces for St. Francis (10-1). Caitlin O’Doherty had six kills and two blocks, Kendra McCalla had 28 assists and Jaclyn LaForgia, who played libero in place of Allison Betito (illness), had 14 digs.
Colucci said it was nice to win, but as far as significance goes, the big match is in two weeks — the Brooklyn/Queens final. He had a similar reaction after Molloy won a five-set thriller against St. Francis Oct. 18. In the first match last month, Prep won in five.
“Our goal is to make sure we win the Brooklyn/Queens [post-season] title, so we can move on to states,” Colucci said.
Emily Rabot had seven kills, Lauren Pagan had six kills and Amanda Price had 16 assists for Molloy (9-2). Jenna Hoffman had 16 digs and Maddie Casello, who missed last week’s match due to illness, had seven aces.
Both teams will compete in the Francis Lewis tournament Saturday in Fresh Meadows and could meet in the playoffs. Then it’s on to the Brooklyn/Queens tournament, which begins with the quarterfinals at Bishop Kearney. St. Francis Prep and Molloy, though, have both earned a bye into the semifinals last Thursday at Molloy.
The final is scheduled for Nov. 3 at St. Francis Prep, where the Terriers and Stanners are favored to meet again with everything on the line.
“They’re gonna come out fired up,” Colucci said, “and we’re not gonna take anything lightly.”
