Franklin College

Franklin women's volleyball coach Dillon Taylor continues to find new ways to be impressed by his squad this season.

The Grizzlies dominated the start of Saturday afternoon's home match against Transylvania, faced some adversity midway through and answered the bell in the clutch to finish out a 25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 27-25 victory at the Spurlock Center. 

"I think it just showed that new level of maturity and grit that our group is trying to develop, as young as we are," Taylor said. "We talked a lot in training this week about when the moment gets big, how are we going to respond? You have to have that confidence, you have to have that belief, and I think you saw a new version of us in set four.

"After they beat us twice and ended our season last year, we were pretty determined."

After dropping the third set, Franklin (18-5, 3-2 HCAC) gave up the first seven points of the fourth on the way to a 9-1 deficit. Rather than fold, though, the Grizzlies crept back, eventually pulling ahead at 14-13 before the Pioneers then reeled off five straight points to regain the lead.

Senior McKenzie Schroeder then had three kills during a 4-1 burst that saw Franklin tie it at 21-21, and a Kaitlyn Lowes kill set up match point at 24-23. Transylvania fought that one off and took a 25-42 lead before the Griz scored three straight to end it.

That final set also featured the 2,000th career assist for senior setter Brionna Linkel, 

"We all were celebrating (the milestone)," Taylor said, "but she had the look in her eyes like, 'This game's not over.' ... It's just a testament to what that kid's been through. She's had leg injuries every single year she's been here, and so for her to battle through it, I think it just speaks to the human being she is and how much she cares about Franklin College volleyball and her teammates."

Franklin had made it look much easier in the early going, leading comfortably through most of the first set. Back-to-back Leah Middleton kills put the Griz in front 18-9, and Lauren Kinsey added three of her team-high 14 kills down the stretch of that set to close it. The second set was tied at 16-16 before the home team got consecutive kills from Schroeder, Middleton and Lowes to start a 5-0 run.

Kinsey had the hot hand early, with 11 kills and just one error in the first two sets, while Schroeder took over in the big moments late.

"When you can run as balanced an offense as we can run, it's going to be, what is the other team giving you in order to find the best matchups?" Taylor said. "Early on, they were worried about Kenzie so we went Lauren a ton. Then, they were fronting Lauren, and I was like, 'Look, guys we're going to ... set Kenzie and she's going to have all the space in the world.' And there she was."

Freshman Avery Smith matched Schroeder on the day with a dozen kills each, with Middleton and Lowes adding eight and six, respectively. Linkel finished with 23 assists and Addie Smith 21.

Defensively, the Grizzlies got five blocks each from Kinsey and Mireily Colomba and four from Schroeder. Lily Gena pulled up 17 digs, and Middleton added three of the team's nine service aces.

Having already notched its highest win total since the 2005 team earned 19, Franklin will try to match that number on Wednesday evening when it travels to Manchester.