Cincinnati, Ohio - The Franklin College volleyball team remained in contention for a postseason berth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) tournament with a five-set victory at Mount St. Joseph University (21-25, 25-23, 25-14, 10-25, 15-10) on Friday afternoon.

The Grizzlies improved to 3-5 in league play and close out the HCAC schedule by hosting fourth-place Defiance College (3-2 HCAC) in a Senior Day match on Saturday, October 29 at 1 p.m. in the Spurlock Center. The team stands one game behind sixth-place Manchester University and within striking distance of fifth-place Transylvania University and Defiance. The top six teams from the regular season qualify for the HCAC's postseason tournament.

Freshman Jenna Spini led Franklin's offensive attack with 15 kills and a .342 hitting percentage for the match. She also assisted on four of the team's 21 total blocks.

"We wanted to keep our season going. We fought for each other. We are one big family and the captains reminded us to start fresh when the fifth set started," said Spini following the match. "Mixing up the shots and moving the blockers around to give the hitters options was a key to our offensive game today."

Freshman Kennedy Surface registered 11 kills, while junior Brooke Harvey had nine kills in the victory. Junior Amanda Lelivelt rounded out the attack with seven kills and a team-high eight blocks.

Senior Ashley Bazier helped establish the Grizzlies' offensive flow with 25 assists and 13 digs, while freshman Nico Morris contributed 16 assists.

Sophomore Libby Stahl led Franklin's defensive effort with 31 digs. Senior Sarah Labra chipped in 12 digs.

Mount St. Joseph (11-13, 2-6 HCAC) won the last four points of the first set to take an early lead in the match. Franklin (13-11, 3-5 HCAC) came back to square the match with a kill from Spini closing out the second-set victory.

"The second set was crucial for us," noted Spini. "I got on a run hitting and Ashley (Bazier) did a good job of finding me."

In the third set, the Grizzlies closed on a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the contest. The team won eight consecutive points on Bazier's serves. After MSJ took the fourth set, the Grizzlies battled to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth.

"Our captains (senior Dena Dunn, Bazier, Labra, and Lelivelt) did a tremendous job of getting us ready for the fifth set," said Spini.

Franklin won four consecutive points to grab a 4-3 lead in the deciding fifth set. A service ace from Lelivelt gave the Grizzlies a two-point advantage, 7-5. Consecutive kills from Harvey put the visitors on top 10-5. Then, the Grizzlies secured the road win when an assist from Morris set up Surface's match-winning kill.

Franklin returns to action on Wednesday, October 26 at 7 p.m. when it travels to Spalding University for a non-conference match.