With each passing match, Franklin men's volleyball coach Dillon Taylor can feel his team turning a corner.

The Grizzlies wound up on the wrong end of a close 25-23, 26-24, 25-22 score Tuesday night at Spalding, but showed more than enough promise to keep their coach upbeat.

"We continue to do really good things and make strides," Taylor said. "We gave ourselves opportunities and just have to learn to capitalize — but when you're playing a lineup of all freshmen and one sophomore, you know you're going to have to learn lessons through those matches."

A Corbin Deck kill and a Kevin Braxton service ace helped the Griz (1-7) race out to an 8-2 lead in the first set, and the visitors were still out front at 21-17 before Spalding scored six of the next seven points to go out in front. A Braxton kill tied things up at 23-23, but the Golden Eagles picked up the next two points to come out on top.

Set two featured a whopping 16 ties and seven lead changes, with Franklin last on top after back-to-back Deck kills made it 23-22. The Grizzlies managed to fight off one match point, but the home side again escaped by scoring the final two points.

The third set started in a similar fashion, but the Golden Eagles scored six of seven points midway through to take a 16-11 lead. Franklin twice fought back to within a point, the last time at 22-21, before the more experience hosts closed it out.

Deck's 11 kills paced a balanced attack that also got nine kills from Braxton, seven from Jonathan McCoy and six from Leo Meseberg. Matthew Becerra handed out 31 assists and matched Deck with a team-high seven digs.

Taylor also credited the play of Demetric George, who had four kills in seven error-free attempts and served up a pair of aces while playing in the middle for the first time since the fall.

The good news for the Grizzlies is that they'll have a chance at a mulligan — the Golden Eagles visit the Spurlock Center on March 18.

"I look forward to the opportunity to see Spalding again so that we can do much better work in our own gym," Taylor said.

Franklin will be closer to home this Saturday (Feb. 21) when it faces Maranatha Baptist and Midway at Indian Creek High School.