RICHMOND, Ind. – In their final road contests of the regular season, the Franklin volleyball team could lock up a spot in the top-four in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) with a win in the opening contest against Earlham College on Saturday (Feb. 20).

Down two sets to one in that conference matchup, the Grizzlies (9-5, 6-2 HCAC) were able to fight off elimination in game four and hold on for a thrilling fifth set win and a 25-21, 15-25, 21-25, 25-20, 16-14. The non-conference meeting saw the Quakers (11-6, 6-3 HCAC) salvage a split, taking the night cap in four sets 25-16, 24-26, 25-13, 25-16.

With their win in the first match, Franklin secures one of four spots in the HCAC post-season tournament, their first conference tourney berth since 2015. 

Match One: Franklin 3 – Earlham 2
The deciding run in the opening set came with the Grizzlies rattling off seven straight points to turn a one-point deficit into a 14-8 lead. Earlham closed the gap to 21-19 but Franklin closed out the game one win with a tandem block from Chloe Holder and Sara Allen followed by a Reagan Egbert kill to go up 1-0.

Earlham rallied in the next two sets to move within a game of victory and looked to finish them off late in the fourth game. But Franklin would hold off a late Earlham rally, taking six of the final eight points to force a deciding set.

Franklin came out swinging in the final game, surging out to a 7-2 lead. Earlham answered with a 7-2 run of their own to tie things up and had Franklin on the ropes with an 11-10 lead. But the Grizzlies showed their resolve down the stretch, with back-to-back kills from Egbert and Allen putting Franklin back in front. Earlham fended off match point with two straight kills but following a bad Quaker set, Abby Sewell put the Quakers to bed with a thunderous kill for the final point.

Egbert powered Franklin's offense with a career-best 17 kills and added 18 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Sewell and Kyndall Boyll pounded home 13 kills each and Sofia Helton handed out 41 assists. Allison Thompson's 21 digs led the team and Mackenzie Waldran added a career-high six aces.

Game Two: Earlham 3 – Franklin 1
Earlham hit .387 in the opening set to take the game and lead in decisive fashion. The Grizzlies shook off the loss in the opener, rallying to tie things up in the second set after fending off a later Earlham rally. But the rest of the match was all Quakers, with the hosts reaching double figure kills in each of the final two sets while Franklin recorded negative hitting percentages in both games.

Holder topped the Grizzlies with six kills and a .357 hitting percentage and was followed by Sewell and Grace Laker who both had five kills. Freshman Kylie Brown set a career-high with 13 digs and added a trio of aces. Both Savanna VanHoy and Billie Jarrett handed out nine assists.

The Grizzlies have one last match on tap which is set for Tuesday (Feb. 23) night in the Spurlock Center against league leading Transylvania. A win will lock up the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.