Franklin coach Dillon Taylor couldn't remember the last time that the Grizzlies beat DePauw in women's volleyball.

Probably because he was 6 years old.

The Grizzlies entered Tuesday evening with an 18-match series losing streak, having last defeated the Tigers back on Sept. 13, 2003 — but that dry spell ended with a massive 25-15, 25-22, 15-25, 25-19 triumph at the Spurlock Center.

With the win, Franklin (10-9) has already eclipsed last season's win total before even getting in to conference play. It's the Grizzlies' first time hitting double-digit victories since 2021.

"We have ridden the roller coaster over the last two years," Taylor said. "We talk a lot in our gym about stringing together good days, and it's really hard to do that in a season like we had last year. But these kids stuck by me. Every single one of them stuck with it. ... It speaks a lot to the way these kids attack every day. We've started to string together really great practices, and we knew that those margins were shrinking. And you go play against a team that's beaten three teams in our conference, and only lost one set combined between the three, and to do it in four sets and the way that we did it, I could not be more proud of this group of athletes."

Franklin set the tone for the night in the first set when it scored eight consecutive points to take a 15-7 lead. Five of those points came on service aces by Trinity Schroeder.

The second set was far tighter, with the Grizzlies using four consecutive points — including consecutive kills from McKenzie Schroeder, Hope Moring and Lauren Kinsey — to pull ahead, 16-13. DePauw closed to within two at 24-22, but Franklin was able to close it out on another McKenzie Schroeder kill.

Set three went to the Tigers, but Franklin was able to regroup behind senior Kaitlyn Lavy, who delivered six of her 12 kills in the decisive fourth.

"In my head I was like, 'Okay, you haven't really played that well,'" Lavy said. "In that fourth set ... I was like, 'We're not losing to this team again.' We've lost to this team the last three years. I wanted to do it for not only myself, but the group of seniors that we have. All of us have put in so much time and work, and we've been through a lot in our four years."

The Grizzlies saw an early 7-2 lead dissolve into a 10-10 tie, but they answered by scoring the next five points to go in front for keeps. Lavy and Moring had kills during that run. Moring, who had a team-high 14 kills as well as 13 assists, added three more kills down the stretch, including the final point of the match.

"I thought that our setters did a great job of identifying, in set four, what the matchups were," Taylor said. "Early in the match, Hope and (McKenzie) were dominating; late in the match, (DePauw) started to step to them, so we started to set left, and Lowes and (Lavy) really answered the call. It really just goes to show how much depth we have in our gym and how many kids can make an impact for us."

Freshman Kaitlyn Lowes matched Lavy with 12 kills, while McKenzie Schroeder had eight kills on .500 hitting. Brionna Linkel had 23 assists and Campbell Clark contributed 12 digs and three aces.

Lavy believes the match represents a turning point for the program.

"We've been talking about, there's just this hump that we needed to get over, and I think tonight really did it," she said. "I think that was the hump, and from here, the rest of our season is going to look so different than any other season that Franklin College volleyball has had."

The Grizzlies open HCAC play on Saturday afternoon with a home match against Bluffton.