Francis makes her mark in professional debut
The former Stanford middle blocker signed with LOVB Omaha on Tuesday and tied for the team high in points on Friday
Last week, Sami Francis was in Palo Alto, California, preparing for finals week of the winter quarter at Stanford.
Then Maggie Eppright, the lead recruiter for League One Volleyball, reached out with an opportunity too good to turn down.
LOVB Omaha was in desperate need of a middle blocker. Could she help out?
The former Stanford middle blocker jumped at the opportunity, signed with Omaha earlier this week and practiced with the team twice before making her professional debut on Friday night. Francis tied for the team lead with 15 points on eight kills, six blocks and an ace, but Omaha fell to Austin 24-26, 25-20, 25-15, 23-25, 18-16 in front of a sold-out crowd at Baxter Arena.
Francis finished her finals this week for her capstone class on science, technology and society and another Silicon Valley-focused class. While school is her priority, the 6-foot-6 middle blocker dreams of playing volleyball professionally.
“I wanted the best of both worlds at Stanford, and so I wanted to see that through,” Francis said after the match. “But I got a call, and it looked like a great opportunity. Omaha is a place where volleyball is huge, and I want to experience as much as I can with the time I have being healthy. I thought this was amazing.”
Francis will return to Palo Alto next week to get her affairs in order, but she intends to finish the season with Omaha over the next four weeks. She will graduate from Stanford in June.
Omaha (4-8) needed a middle blocker after injuries piled up at the position. Omaha coach Suzie Fritz said Candelaria Herrera, who has played just once in the past six weeks, is out for the remainder of the LOVB season. Meanwhile, Lauren Stivrins has missed the past three matches with an injury. Fritz said Stivrins’s timetable is unknown because her injury takes time to recover from, and they will not rush her back.
Omaha signed another middle blocker, Chiamaka Nwokolo, on March 4. Fritz said they’d had a rough go because the only other middle blocker, Emily Thater, was only playing at about 70 percent because of her own health issues.
With limited bodies at middle blocker and a pair of players trying to learn their system, Fritz said practicing can be challenging at times.
“It's hard to practice and get better and do the things that you want to do offensively, defensively,” Fritz said. “Every time you have something like that happen, it puts more on somebody else, somewhere else, right? That's been about a month for us, and you're seeing the outcome correspond to a little bit of our situation. We're not going to make excuses for that. We are just doing everything we can, and I love the way these guys work. I'm so proud of them. I think they understand the significance of what they're doing.”
After losing the third set 25-15 after Austin (5-7) closed it on a 12-1 run, Omaha regrouped and pulled out the fourth set. Omaha had a chance to get in the win column for the first time since Feb. 8 but couldn’t convert its four match-point chances.
Despite suffering its eighth loss in the last nine regular season matches, Omaha showed positive signs against Austin, none bigger than Francis providing a spark at middle blocker.
Francis hadn’t touched a volleyball since she wrapped up her four-year career at Stanford in December. She earned second-team All-American honors as a senior, averaging 2.46 kills on a .401 hitting percentage with 1.53 blocks per set.
When the San Diego native arrived in Omaha on Monday, temperatures exceeded 80 degrees, making her feel at home. After signing on Tuesday, she looked forward to her first practice in months on Wednesday. However, Fritz texted the group that practice would be delayed due to a freak blizzard that rolled through the region.
“It’s been a little bit stressful. I'm not going to lie,” Francis said about her week. “It's been a crazy ride, but these girls have been so welcoming — coach too — and it's just an amazing opportunity for me.”
Despite having just two practices, Fritz went Francis in the starting lineup in her first-ever pro match. Fritz said she liked her physicality at the net and her ability to make a difference in all phases of the game. Francis rewarded that trust and made a quick impact, recording a block on the fifth point of the match.
Thater, who also finished with 15 points as she hit .522 with 14 kills and one block, knew that Francis could be a difference-maker from the first time she saw her on the court. Thater said Francis has a high contact point, hits a heavy ball, moves well at the net and is a disciplined blocker. She was proud her counterpart flourished when given the opportunity.
“Middles sometimes take a back seat, and I take a little bit of pride in that role,” Thater said. “It really shows when you've got a middle out there who is taking over, being aggressive and going for it. And Sami did great, and we played off each other really well tonight.”
Austin’s Chiaka Ogbogu led all players with 23 points on 14 kills, eight blocks and an ace. She said it can be difficult for middle blockers to come in and have a presence, but she was impressed with Francis’s debut.
“She did a really good job of being steady for them and creating some opportunities,” the two-time Olympic medalist said. “Shout out to her. That's a really hard position to be in after three days.”
Francis showed a few signs of rust as she committed five hitting errors and finished with a .125 hitting percentage. However, Fritz said those numbers would improve with more time spent with her teammates and getting reps in the gym.
Although her life will stay chaotic as she balances playing for Omaha and finishing her degree over the next few months, Francis is just trying to enjoy the journey. In the end, Francis said she is going with the flow, living her dream and embracing everything that comes her way.
“Professional volleyball has been a dream of mine since I was little. Once I started playing, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do. This is who I want to be,’” she said. “Talking about it now, this is so surreal. I cannot believe that I'm a professional athlete at this point. If I'm putting it into words, it's just a surreal experience.”