For a young program still building its foundation, sometimes victory can be found in defeat.

Franklin men's volleyball coach Dillon Taylor had plenty of reason for optimism Friday night despite the end result, a 25-14, 25-22, 25-14 loss to Wabash at the Spurlock Center. The Grizzlies had lost another straight-set match to the Little Giants in early February, and Taylor saw numerous differences even though the scores were fairly similar.

"Scores don't always tell the story," he said. "These guys battled for every point. We played them a month ago and the improvement is so clear. We outblocked and outdug them, so that's huge for us as far as our development."

Indeed, the Grizzlies finished with slight advantages in blocks (7-6) and digs (22-21), but the visitors ended the night with the upper hand in kills and made just nine attacking errors.

The difference in offensive firepower was notable in the first and third sets, but Franklin (5-18) made things far more interesting in the second. Jonathan McCoy opened the set with back-to-back kills, helping the Griz out to a 5-1 lead, and a 4-1 surge that included two Kevin Braxton kills and a Leo Meseberg service ace made it 15-11. Wabash came back to take a 20-18 lead before Franklin again fought back, tying it at 22-22 on another Braxton kill; the Little Giants then scored the last three points.

McCoy paced a balanced Griz attack with nine kills, followed by Braxton with eight and Corbin Deck with six. Matthew Becerra had 20 assists. Defensively, Deck and Becerra led the way with six digs apiece and Meseberg had five blocks.

Overall, Taylor likes where his team is headed.

"Kevin was incredible off the bench, and Corbin and Jon continue to shoulder a big burden for us," the coach said. "For as young as we are right now, tonight is a great step in the right direction."

The Grizzlies have a week off before playing their final two home matches of the season next Saturday (March 28) against Greenville and Rockford.