Panthers rise to No. 7 in Class 2-A MaxPreps rankings
A chart hangs in the volleyball locker room at Franklin High School that features eight primary goals.
Coach Bekah Brooks placed stickers on the chart Friday morning for each goal the Panthers achieved. The first goal is to not let any balls hit the floor without someone going after it.
“If you don’t let balls drop, that means you’re giving complete effort. And when you give effort, you win games,” Brooks said.
The previous evening, Franklin gave complete effort in a 3-0 home win over Hendersonville. The Panthers responded to a push by the Bearcats in the third set, but eventually pulled out a 28-26 win to seal the match.
“That’s the best team Franklin volleyball I’ve seen,” Brooks said.
The final column on the sticker chart is for wins. The Panthers won three matches last week, giving them 12 on the season.
“I love to see all those little volleyball stickers across that win column,” Brooks said.
FHS (12-4, 5-1 Mountain Six Conference) also beat Robbinsville and Smoky Mountain last week.
The 3-1 win over Robbinsville avenged a five-set loss earlier this season. The Black Knights dropped to 12-1 on the season.
“We gave an undefeated team their first loss,” Brooks said, “so that’s a good feeling.”
Alison Knop pounded 23 kills, while Taylor Ensley smacked 21.
Canaan Drake added nine kills to go with a team-high five blocks.
Adrianne Duvall dished out 52 assists.
Digs leaders were Rhiley Bryson (36), Duvall (24), Taylor Carlton (17) and Kiara Dewey (13).
The Panthers then beat Smoky Mountain, who Brooks still considers their biggest rival. Her former teammate, Megan (Plemmons) Dezarn, coaches the Mustangs.
“You just don’t lose to people in blue,” Brooks said.
“I’m glad we went over there and took care of business.”
Thursday’s match against Hendersonville was Youth Night. Brooks recognized each team over the speakers, with the players running onto the floor while wearing their uniforms before taking seats sitting in the middle section of the bleachers.
Brooks was so excited to see that happen, and just talking about it gave her chills.
“That’s our future,” she said. “They saw those girls playing (Thursday) night and were cheering. One day, hopefully it’s gonna be them and people are gonna be coming and cheering for them.”
The Panthers remain in second place in the MSC standings with four matches left. Brevard sits atop the standings and hasn’t lost a conference match.
The top two teams were set to clash Tuesday in Transylvania County. Brevard won the first meeting 3-0, but the Panthers didn’t come ready to play that night.
“We need some revenge on Brevard. How nice would that be to give them their first conference loss?” Brooks said. “We played very scared here; I don’t know why. Honest to goodness, we have nothing to lose going into that game. It’s on their floor, it’s their senior night, and we need to take it to them.
“If we’ll just play like we know how to play, the cards will fall where they should. Whether it’s going five games, whether it’s winning or losing, I just want them to be competitive and to play like they did (against Hendersonville).”
Like almost every week, this one also features three matches: Monday vs. Asheville Christian Academy, Tuesday at Brevard and Thursday at East Henderson.
Those are Franklin’s last two road matches until the state playoffs.
Thanks to winning six straight matches, the Panthers have moved up to No. 7 in the 2-A MaxPreps rankings. (Brevard is No. 2.)
Brooks said it’s nice to be ranked so highly. However, the focus and ultimate goal is on finishing in the top two in the conference standings and in the conference tournament (which FHS will host). And playing on Halloween, which would be the third round of the state playoffs, is another ultimate goal.
“Do I think we can go further? Yes, I do,” Brooks said. “When things haven’t happened around here like that, sometimes those little goals are great. So we need to finish out the season and keep going.”