History certainly didn't favor Franklin women's volleyball heading into Saturday evening.
The Grizzlies hadn't advanced to the HCAC Tournament final since 2004. They had won just two of their last 24 matches against Hanover over the last 20 years, with both of those victories coming at home. The No. 2 seed Panthers had swept the regular-season meeting between the two rivals, and then came out and won the first set of Saturday's tournament semifinal at Earlham.
But then, a funny thing happened. The third-seeded Grizzlies decided to change history, storming back from a set down for a 22-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-19 triumph.
"This group continues to take one game at a time, one point at a time," Griz coach
Dillon Taylor said. "They are never fazed, and they continue to improve every time they step on the court."
Franklin (24-5) took an early 10-6 lead in the opening set before Hanover rallied to tie it and later strung together eight consecutive points to take command at 22-14. The Grizzlies got as close as 23-21 on a kill and service ace by sophomore
Leah Middleton, but they were unable to complete the comeback.
Undeterred, the Griz turned a 7-6 deficit early in the second set into a 20-10 lead. Middleton put down four kills during that mid-set surge, with
Avery Smith and
Kaitlyn Lowes each adding a pair. The third set saw the Panthers take a 9-5 lead before Franklin responded with 10 of the next 11 points to make it 15-10. Hanover scored the next five to pull even, and the set was still deadlocked at 19-19 before a Middleton kill and two Panther errors put the Grizzlies up to stay at 22-19.
Hanover started the fourth set on a mission, blazing out to an 11-4 advantage and setting what looked like a course toward a fifth set. But Franklin had other ideas. Starting with kills from
McKenzie Schroeder and Middleton, Franklin reeled off 11 unanswered points to take a commanding 23-16 lead. Sophomores
Lauren Kinsey and Lowes punctuated the match-defining run with kills, and Kinsey put down another on match point to send the Grizzlies into the Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) title match against the top-seeded Quakers.
Middleton — who was not named to the All-HCAC team earlier in the week — finished with a career-high 23 kills for Franklin, just days after putting down a match-high 19 in a quarterfinal win over Transylvania. She added 15 digs and four blocks in a blockbuster all-around performance.
"Leah was an absolute monster tonight," Taylor said. "She's had a new look in her eyes this week, and we keep telling her to make her case. She was unstoppable."
Smith added a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 16 digs, while Kinsey and Schroeder chipped in with nine kills each. Both Griz setters finished with double-doubles — senior
Brionna Linkel with 25 assists and 13 digs, and freshman
Addie Smith with 22 helpers and 14 digs. Sophomore libero
Lily Gena — who Taylor referred to as a "vacuum cleaner" — paced the back row with 37 digs, while Kinsey had eight blocks up front.
"We challenged our blockers to be incredibly disciplined today, and because they were able to do that, we held one of the best offenses in the conference down," Taylor said. "It's a huge credit to the IQ of this group."
The Grizzlies will now play at Earlham for the second time this season. The Quakers took the first meeting 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 on Oct. 21, but Franklin hasn't lost in its seven matches since.
"Don't let the Griz get hot!" Taylor said.
