Panther volleyball is less than two weeks out from the regular season.
For much of the past two months, Bekah Brooks’ team has been hard at work, bringing a new crop of varsity players up to speed and preparing for the fall campaign. On July 27 the Panthers traveled to Smoky Mountain for a day of scrimmages with WNC rivals, giving players one last chance to impress coaches ahead of team tryouts July 31.
In their first scrimmage of the day Franklin met Murphy, with whom they split two regular-season contests last fall. Both teams looked evenly matched through the first 10 minutes of the 25-minute period, with the Panthers getting multiple kills from 2022 All-Conference outside hitter Cali Queen. As the scrimmage wore on however, Franklin won the majority of points, controlling the net led by junior Ryan Green and veteran seniors Jacelyn and Jocelyn Rios.
An hour later, Franklin retook to the court against Hayesville, whom they defeated soundly in two regular-season meetings last year. One of two returning All-Conference Panthers along with McCall Sanders, Queen continued to impress, frustrating the Yellow Jackets’ defense with high-flying kills above the net. Franklin looked sharp on both offense and defense throughout the period, clearly outscoring Hayesville in their second “win” of the day.
Just three minutes later, the Panthers locked horns with T.C. Roberson’s ‘No. 2’ team, dominating the early goings with several aces. After several minutes, the Rams shored up their rotations to narrow the gap, but ran into more strong defense at the net from Franklin. For the third straight scrimmage, the Panthers seemed to outplay their opponents.
In their next contest, Franklin faced T.C. Roberson’s ‘No. 1’ team, who presented a tougher test than their No. 2 teammates. The two sides looked evenly matched in the opening minutes, with the Panthers getting strong back-row defense led by McCall and McKayla Sanders. Ultimately, neither team was able to pull away from the other, giving both valuable experience against non-conference opponents.
Franklin turned their attention to Andrews for their next scrimmage, where freshman Audrey Pressley recorded kills on the first two points. After an excellent summer for Panther basketball, Pressley played for both Panther teams throughout the two-day event, showing off a wide range of offensive skills and athleticism. Despite sending several hard-hit spikes out of bounds, Franklin was never truly outplayed in the period, getting multiple aces from Queen to help keep the Wildcats at bay.
For their last scrimmage of the day, the Panthers met a familiar foe in Mountain Seven Conference rival Tuscola. Like their JV counterparts, the varsity Mountaineers brought only a small team to Sylva, with six players on the floor and only two on the bench. Franklin controlled the first several minutes of the period, getting multiple well-placed serves from junior setter Emma Ledford. Between these and more strong play at the net, the Panthers clearly outplayed their conference rivals.
After their full day of scrimmages at Smoky, the Panthers had just one more day of practice ahead of team tryouts July 31, the first official day of the N.C. High School Athletic Association fall season. The team travels to Robbinsville Aug. 14, the first day of NCHSAA fall contests.