Coach Dillon Taylor gathered some serious momentum in his second season at the helm of Franklin women's volleyball, with the Grizzlies' 15 victories matching their highest total in the past decade. Victories over the likes of DePauw and Mount St. Joseph, as well as a five-set thriller against HCAC regular season champion Earlham, showed hints of the squad's potential.

Counterbalancing those impressive showings, though, were some disappointing matches that proved there was still work to do.

During the offseason, the Grizzlies made sure to do that work. Now, with a strong nucleus back in place and a slew of talented newcomers coming on board, the arrow is again pointing upward.

"We got a taste of success, but we think we left a little bit out there last year," Taylor said. "This group came in hungry in the spring and really improved ... then you bring in a class like we brought in, and the level in the gym takes a step forward. When everyone is putting in 100%, then it's really cool to see what can happen and it causes a lot of excitement to see what things are going to look like."

The Grizzlies will build around a pair of returning All-HCAC players up front. Senior McKenzie Schroeder collected 218 kills last season, tops among those coming back, while sophomore Lauren Kinsey will try to follow up on her 142 kills and team-high 91 blocks. Also expected to play bigger roles will be sophomore hitters Kaitlyn Lowes and Leah Middleton, both of whom averaged more than two kills a set in 2025. Junior Mireily Colomba also contributed in the middle a year ago and should be a factor again.

Setting the table once again will be Brionna Linkel, who brings more than 1,600 career assists into her senior campaign and is healthier than she's been at any point in her career.

On the back row, the Grizzlies will be relying heavily on some new faces after graduating five defensive specialists. Taylor has seen a robust competition between the holdovers and the new faces, and he's hesitant to make a declaration about who will feature in the rotation — but regardless of who sees the most action, the coach has really liked what he's seen.

"Our defense is nutty compared to what it used to be," Taylor said. "We have six defenders in the gym, and all six of them have made really great things happen, so I think it's really important to continue to evaluate. We brought in two transfers (Kim Busateri and Addison Walton) that have experience in the (libero) shirt, you've got three kids (Tayler Anderson, Lily Gena and Ava Hollis) that were in the gym with us in the spring that did a really great job, and then you bring in another freshman on top of that (Skylyr Merriman), that played 4A high school volleyball in the state of Indiana and made multiple runs into the state tournament at the 4A level. 

"So I couldn't give you an honest answer as to who it'll be right now. We thought we had an idea, and then yesterday was completely different."

The increased competition for playing time has pushed everyone to improve — and some of those matches that got away last year have fueled the desire to do something more in 2026.

"I give a lot of credit to the sophomores," Taylor said. "They came in in the spring and said, 'No — this is not what we want. We don't want to be .500. We want to host (an HCAC tournament match). We want to be competing for an HCAC title in our four years here.'"

"Everybody's hungry, everybody wants to work hard," added Lowes, who was voted as a team captain alongside Linkel and Schroeder. "So we're just continuing to push each other every day — and this group of girls, we want it really bad."

The tide has shifted rapidly enough that the Grizzlies, just two years removed from a winless conference season, see the top of the HCAC as a reachable destination this fall.

"I think this is our year," Lowes said. "I truly think that. The team's energy and the way we're all connected ... we can seriously do anything."

"The sky's the limit for this group," Taylor added. "I think that we're going to surprise a lot of people."