Saturday didn't get off to a great start for Franklin men's volleyball, but as it's done all season, the Grizzlies continued to make forward progress.
Playing its final two home matches of the spring, Franklin stormed back from two sets down before taking a 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 21-25, 15-10 loss against Greenville, then stared down deficits in the first and third sets on the way to a 29-27, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of Rockford.
The Grizzlies (6-19) have now tripled their win total from last year's debut campaign.
"It goes to show you that no matter how big or small a role is, every player on this team makes an impact," Franklin coach
Dillon Taylor said. "Seeing guys step up in huddles and hold each other to our standards was incredible."
Against Rockford, the Griz were down 23-18 in the first set before reeling off six points in a row on the serve of Nic Whitecotten.
Kevin Braxton had a pair of kills and Whitecotten added an ace during the run. The Regents had a chance to close out the set at 27-26, but Franklin earned the next three points, with a
Corbin Deck kill starting that closing surge.
Franklin never trailed in the second set but found itself in a 20-18 hole in the third before scoring seven of the last eight points.
Jonathan McCoy had four of his match-high 14 kills down the stretch, including the final point of the match.
Deck added 11 kills and Braxton 10 in the win, with McCoy adding nine digs and
Matthew Becerra handing out 37 assists.
In the opener, the Grizzlies fell into a two-set hole but fought back to draw even. The third set saw the hosts break an 18-18 deadlock with three straight points, the last a McCoy ace, and in the fourth Franklin used another late 3-0 burst to go up 24-19, later finishing the set with a Deck kill.
McCoy (16 kills), Braxton (14) and Deck (11) all finished in double digits to lead the attack, while Becerra finished with 41 assists.
Eric Peiffer and
Leo Meseberg held down the middle with eight and six blocks, respectively.
"Our middles were great on both sides of the ball," Taylor said.
Franklin now closes the season with four road matches, the first of those on Tuesday (March 31) at Defiance.
