Faith Christian Academy defeated Our Lady of Good Counsel School in the semifinals and St. Patrick School in the finals to claim the championship at the Aurora Central Catholic 8th-grade tournament Sunday.
FCA earned one of two byes into the semifinals of the championship bracket after sweeping its three matches in pool play on Friday. In their first match on Sunday, the Falcons rode standout serving to a 25-8, 25-14 victory. Nicki Smith helped Faith build a sizable lead in the first set behind 12-for-12 serving with one ace and six service winners. Jessica Smith clinched the set with 5-for-5 serving and four service winners.
Our Lady of Good Counsel bounced back with some inspired play to start the second set, bolting to a 9-4 lead before Faith roared back behind 6-for-6 serving from Ally Will with two aces, Nicki's 7-for-7 serving with two aces and two service winners and Jessica's 6-for-6 serving with four service winners.
The Falcons got about five minutes to rest before meeting St. Patrick School in the finals, but FCA looked like the more rested and motivated team in the first set, winning 25-13. Anneliese Lockner pushed Faith in front with 6-for-6 serving with two aces and two service winners to start the set, giving FCA a 5-0 lead. The Falcons played a strong all-around set, including four digs, 21 three-contact series and seven kills.
With its back to the wall, St. Patrick played much sharper in the second set. The Irish led by as much as 19-12 and were ahead 21-15 when the Falcons stiffened their resolve, dug deep and delivered 10 straight points to claim the set, the match and the tournament title. The highlight of the 10-0 run came when Gigi Crescenzo sprinted about 30 feet out of bounds to chase down a teammate's errant pass, back bumping the ball within several feet of the left sideline near the attack line, where Jessica tracked down the ball and back bumped it inches inside the left antenna on the net. The play was the perfect combination of all-out hustle, determination, athleticism, skill and smarts on Gigi and Jessica's part and really summarized FCA's play in the 12-team tournament.
The Falcons won the point, and Gigi and Jessica's play seemed to inspire the team to clinch the match. Lauren Caprini then pushed FCA over the top with 8-for-8 serving highlighted by an ace and six service winners to give Faith the championship. After St. Patrick bumped Lauren's last serve out of bounds, FCA's players broke into a boisterous on-court celebration at the realization that the Falcons had earned the match and the title. Very fun to watch.
Special thanks goes to Mr. and Mrs. Clapper, Mrs. Sutton, Mrs. Haboush and FCA volleyball alumnus Amy Haboush, Mr. Weeks and Abby and Tim and the various families who cheered on the team today. You guys turned Aurora Central Catholic into Faith Christian South tonight! Thanks for rocking the gym and fueling the team's performance!
Anneliese, Lauren, Ally, Gigi, Jessica, Meagan and Nicki represented FCA at the tournament today. Lauren, Ally, Anneliese, Jessica, Gigi, Meagan, Nicki, Anna and Jess Chiaro played in Faith's three matches on Friday.
