Playing its home openers away from home on Saturday, Franklin men's volleyball made its share of history — and nearly made some more.

The Grizzlies took care of Maranatha Baptist in three sets, 25-10, 25-9, 25-13, for the first 3-0 sweep in program history, and then pushed Midway to five before coming up short in a marathon showdown, 23-25, 25-18, 16-25, 27-25, 17-15, at Indian Creek High School

In the morning match against the Sabercats, Franklin (2-8) dominated from start to finish.

The Griz scored 10 of the last 11 points in both the first and second sets, then took a 17-5 lead in the third before coasting home. For the match, the team hit to a .328 percentage with 32 kills against just 10 attacking errors.

"We were able to get everyone involved," Griz coach Dillon Taylor said of the Maranatha match. "I was really impressed with what Layne Pogue did in his first appearance in a setting role, including his blocking presence."

Against Midway, Franklin fought through 13 ties and six lead changes before going ahead for good at 21-20 on a Leo Meseberg kill and eventually prevailing on an Eagle service error. The visitors took the second set quickly, but the Grizzlies did the same in the third to go up 2-1.

In the fourth, Franklin got up 18-13 on an Eric Peiffer kill before the Eagles rallied, eventually going ahead 24-23. The Grizzlies fought off two set points with kills from Meseberg and Peiffer, but a setting error and an ace helped Midway close it out and force a fifth.

The Grizzlies got four kills in a six-point stretch from Demetric George to tie it up at 13-13. After Midway scored to set up match point, Peiffer hammered down back-to-back kills to give Franklin a match point of its own — but the Eagles scored the next three to escape with the win.

Franklin totaled 68 kills in the loss, with George delivering 18 to go along with 12 digs. Corbin Deck added 14 kills, followed by Peiffer and Jonathan McCoy with 13 apiece and Meseberg with 10. Setter Matthew Becerra had a school-record 50 assists while also leading the team with 15 digs. McCoy had four service aces.

"We showed some real grit," Taylor said. "After getting down in set five, we dug deep and took a lead. This group continues to prove they're fighters; now we just have to figure out how to channel that fight effectively."

Deck and McCoy had eight kills each against Maranatha Baptist, with George adding seven; McCoy served up five aces and Becerra handed out 18 assists. Simon Hmung totaled 21 digs between the two matches.

Next up for the Griz is a weekend trip to Michigan for three matches, the first coming against host Olivet on Friday.