Franklin women's volleyball faced a difficult first test on Wednesday, opening its season on the road against an IU Columbus team that had already played 10 matches and won nine of them.
Despite showing some fight in all three sets, the Grizzlies came out on the wrong end of a 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 score.
"Lots of lessons learned tonight," Griz coach
Dillon Taylor said. "Columbus is a great team and is already 10 matches into their season. They'll have great successes with the talent they have. ... Our group battled hard."
In the first set, Franklin faced deficits of 15-5 and 20-9 before mounting a late charge. A
McKenzie Schroeder kill started off an extended run that saw the visitors get within 22-19 on a
Kaitlyn Lowes kill. Another kill from Lowes fought off a set point and made it 24-22 before the Crimson Pride finished things off.
The Grizzlies also trailed throughout in the second set but came out strong in the third, taking a 9-4 lead behind two more kills by Lowes along with single scoring shots from
Bayleigh Moore,
Avery Smith and
Lauren Kinsey. IU Columbus reeled off seven straight points to take a 15-13 lead, and though Franklin scored the next three to briefly go back in front, the Crimson Pride managed to hang on down the stretch, scoring the final four points of the match after the Griz had crept to within 21-20.
Lowes paced a balanced Franklin attack with six kills, while Kinsey added five kills and three solo blocks. Freshman setter
Addie Smith handed out 11 assists and libero
Kim Busateri pulled up a team-high 11 digs.
"Saw some different people step up when we needed them," Taylor said. "
Lauren Kinsey had a great night, and
Kaitlyn Lowes continues to be a leader."
Next up for Franklin is a road trip east for three tournament matches at Wilmington. The first of those comes Friday evening against Sweet Briar.
