Girls volleyball: Shay McMillen, St. Francis power past Sycamore in sectional semifinal

WHEATON – Shay McMillen’s return to greatness wasn’t easy.

It’s all paying off now for St. Francis as it continues its Class 3A state title defense.

McMillen, the St. Francis senior, suffered a ruptured ACL and a torn meniscus in her left leg in April 2022 and was out for nine months before being cleared in January.

She’s been yet another lights-out attacking weapon on the outside for the Spartans the entire stretch run.

“It means a lot. My teammates and my parents, they all helped me out. This whole grind, it depends how determined, how much grit you have to get out there,” McMillen said after St. Francis’ 25-12, 25-10 victory over Sycamore in a Class 3A St. Francis Sectional semifinal Monday.

St. Francis plays Deerfield, which defeated Wheaton Academy 25-16, 25-12 in the night’s other semifinal, in the sectional championship at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

McMillen’s process to return was grueling, but the Parkland College commit was ready to power through.

“It changes you. It takes a lot out of your mentality, but you have to push yourself and it’s all about self-determination to get back out there,” McMillen said. “I know I proved myself for nine straight months and I was going to bust my butt to get back out there.”

Entering Monday, she was third on the team with 202 kills, and averaged 2.3 kills per set. McMillen finished with nine Monday and was the engine for an attack that kept Sycamore on its heels.

“At the beginning of the year, with missing last year and coming back, she wanted to be a power, power, power girl,” St. Francis coach Lisa Ston said. “She has worked this entire season on being able to incorporate all of her shots. She’s finally hitting a point where she can do it very well.”

St. Francis (30-8) built a healthy lead in the first set and didn’t relent. Behind the top-notch serving of Catherine D’Orazio, St. Francis received sizable contributions from Addy Horner, Emma Delaney, Anna Paquette and McMillen to coast to the 25-12 win without much resistance.

Set 2 was much of the same. McMillen rattled off three consecutive kills in the first four points and quickly built a 12-4 lead and counting. Sycamore seniors Grace Hunt had a kill, and Avery Gerdes followed with a block to make it 17-9, but Horner and company kept the offensive pressure up to a 25-10 finish.

“We knew Sycamore was good. Their three pins, coming in, we knew were a force to be reckoned with,” Ston said. “We knew we couldn’t take them lightly and we played a pretty clean game tonight.”

D’Orazio, the team leader in aces this season, led with six aces to highlight her sterling day at the line.

“She’s funny because she gets back there and she probably is our best zone server. She can hit where you tell her to hit,” Ston said. “She’s very fun to watch serving.”

Laci Neece led with three kills and an ace for Sycamore (22-15), which achieved a regional title for the first time in eight seasons.

“We came in with the mindset that everything’s up from there,” Sycamore coach Jennifer Charles said. “I think the girls had an excellent season. We played against some really tough teams. St. Francis is a great program, great group of girls, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way [we] came into their home court and did the best they can. We had some couple really good rallies. Some really good swings from Laci Neece, Ava Carpenter and Grace Lichthardt and we had some great digs from the back row.

“Overall, the score doesn’t show how well that I thought we played tonight.”