NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Franklin volleyball team was back at for their third invitational of the year, taking part in the Manchester Invite on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 13-14).
 
The Grizzlies claimed victory in the opener against Saint Mary's on Friday night, winning in four sets. The second day was less kind to Franklin, as they fell to Alma in three and Manchester in five sets.
 
Franklin 3 – Saint Mary's 1
25-22, 25-20, 17-25, 25-23
After falling into a 6-1 hole to start the first set, Franklin rallied to tie things up and they completed the game one comeback by taking the final three points to go up 1-0. Set two saw the Grizzlies finish with five of the final six points to take a two-set lead and after the Belles forced a fourth set, Franklin closed strong to end the match by taking three of the last four points.
 
Kaitlyn Lavy led the offense with 11 kills and Trinity Schroeder turned in a big night with eight kills and four blocks from the middle position. Brionna Linkel handed out 28 assists and had a team-high 14 digs. Charlotte Goto led the service line with four aces.
 
Alma 3 – Franklin 0
25-20, 28-26, 25-10
The Grizzlies dropped a critical second set, with the Scots taking four of the final five points to take a two-set lead and stifle any momentum the rest of the way.
 
Lavy led the way with nine kills and eight digs and finished with a .269 hitting percentage. Linkel added 19 assists to go with five kills. Goto added three more aces from the service line.
 
Manchester 3 – Franklin 2
17-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 15-8
The final match of the weekend served as a conference preview between a pair of league rivals, with the Spartans taking their first two sets by the slimmest margins before closing things out in a deciding set.
 
Lavy put down a team-high 14 kills with McKenzie Schroeder pounding home a season-high 13 kills and adding three solo blocks. Trinity Schroeder and Makalyn Miller each finished with nine kills. Lavy led the defense with 16 digs, followed by 11 from Hannah Phegley. Linkel added another 34 assists to her total for the weekend.
 
Up Next
Franklin makes their long-awaited home debut on Thursday (Sept. 19), when they host Kenyon College. First serve from the Spurlock Center is set for 6:00 p.m.