Grizzlies in three. Lather, rinse, repeat.
For the 13th match in a row, Franklin women's volleyball needed just three sets to get past its opponent, dominating Trine in a 25-12, 25-8, 25-22 victory at the Spurlock Center on Wednesday evening.
The Griz (13-1) have taken 39 consecutive sets over the last three weeks and improved to a perfect 6-0 at home.
"Incredible effort by our athletes," Franklin coach
Dillon Taylor said. "Being down a senior captain (
McKenzie Schroeder) in a match against a team that beat us in five sets last year, it took a lot of mental toughness to come out and perform the way that we did."
Indeed, Franklin came roaring out of the gate, building a 6-1 first-set lead behind two
Leah Middleton kills and a pair of tandem blocks from
Mireily Colomba and
Avery Smith. Another 5-0 spurt, highlighted by a pair of kills from
Kaitlyn Lowes, stretched it to 12-4, and the Grizzlies coasted from there.
Set two was a completely one-sided affair, with the home side storming out to a 17-4 advantage and later scoring six straight points — including three on Middleton kills — to push the margin to 24-7. Franklin posted a .600 hitting percentage for the set, putting down 16 kills on 25 attempts with just one error.
Trine made the third set far more competitive, coming back from an early four-point deficit to tie it at 13-13. Franklin scored five of the next six points to take the lead for good, with freshman
Bayleigh Moore — who had seven kills on 15 error-free swings while largely filling in for Schroeder — delivering three kills in that stretch.
"Bayleigh was absolutely phenomenal in a role that she has never played in her career," Taylor said. "She put the block in the correct place every time, and she was phenomenal defensively in addition to hitting .467."
The visitors stayed within range and crept within a point on four occasions down the stretch, the last at 23-22, but the Grizzlies were able to wrap it up on Middleton's 10th kill of the night and a Thunder attacking error.
In addition to Middleton, the Griz also got eight kills from Lowes and seven each from Moore and Colomba (who also had a team-high four blocks).
Brionna Linkel handed out 20 assists and
Addie Smith 13, while
Kim Busateri pulled up 10 digs and Middleton added eight.
Having successfully defended its home court, Franklin goes back on the road this weekend for a pair of matches in Cincinnati against Mount St. Joseph and Marietta.
"We're hoping to get a couple of athletes back from short term injuries and go into the weekend looking for another big test," Taylor said. "It's a really good opportunity to close (the nonconference schedule) against two quality opponents."
