Heading eastward turned out to be the perfect way to get the arrow pointing north for Franklin women's volleyball.
Fresh off a three-set win on Friday, the Grizzlies added two more sweeps on Saturday, defeating Pitt-Greensburg 25-13, 25-13, 25-13 and routing tourney host Wilmington by a 25-7, 25-16, 25-18 count.
"Huge day for our group," Griz coach
Dillon Taylor said. "This group shows every single day the desire to be great. All 20 athletes that were available this weekend played a huge role in these three wins. Many of our younger players have shown insane growth in preseason and continue to push every day."
The attack was well balanced and efficient in both matches. Against Pitt-Greensburg, Franklin (3-1) hit .404 as a team, with 45 kills and just seven errors.
McKenzie Schroeder had eight kills, followed by
Lauren Kinsey and
Bayleigh Moore with seven apiece. Kinsey also had three blocks.
Both setters were effective, with
Addie Smith contributing 15 assists and four service aces and
Brionna Linkel adding 13 assists and seven digs.
Against Wilmington, the offense was equally dominant, hammering down 46 kills against just seven errors for a .398 percentage. Schroeder, Kinsey and
Leah Middleton put down nine kills each, with Middleton adding seven digs. Six attackers hit .300 or better.
"Our middles were absolutely unstoppable," Taylor said.
Linkel had 22 assists and four aces, while Smith had 14 assists.
Kim Busateri paced the back row with 19 digs across the two wins.
Franklin will play its home opener on Tuesday evening against Spalding.
