Panther volleyball is entering the home stretch as one of the region’s top-ranked teams.
Ahead of the week of Sept. 23, Franklin boasted one of the 3A West’s best records, sitting at 17-1 with just six matches to play. With wins over Pisgah and North Henderson, they improved to 9-1 in the Mountain Seven ahead of a de facto conference title match with West Henderson.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24 the team traveled to Pisgah to rehash their 3-0 win over the Black Bears Aug. 29. There Franklin once again dominated early, taking a 7-2 lead behind three points from Kyrah Bowles and two from Ella Raby. Pisgah soon kicked into gear however, claiming the next eight points and 15 of the last 26 to win the first set 25-18.
Franklin seemed out for revenge to start the second, taking an 11-4 lead behind two aces from Emma Ledford and three kills from Ryan Green. Despite a brief Bear run to cut their lead to 13-11, Franklin got more aces from Ledford, Bowles and McKayla Sanders to win 25-13.
Both teams looked evenly matched in the third, sitting tied at 16 despite two aces and strong defense from McKenna Plemmons. From there Franklin began to pull ahead, winning 25-21 behind more tough defense from Bowles, Sanders, Emma Ledford and Danni Ledford.
Pisgah matched Franklin once again to start the fourth, sitting down just 13-12 despite three kills apiece from Bowles and Green. Once again the Panthers pulled away however, getting three more kills from Green to win 25-17.
With storms forecast the rest of the week, on Wednesday the team traveled to North Henderson a day early to rehash their 3-0 win over the Knights Sept. 3. There the Panthers wasted little time to start the match, taking an 11-3 lead behind four kills from Danni Ledford. Plemmons turned in several excellent saves down the stretch to win the set 25-11.
Franklin continued to dominate in the second, going up 14-5 behind two aces, two kills and a save from Bowles. Plemmons posted three of their five aces from there en route to a 25-7 win.
Aubrey Haley heated up to start the third set, posting a kill and an ace to put her team up 15-6. Bowles and Green added three kills apiece in the set to complete the sweep, 25-13.
After routing North, the Panthers had just two more conference matches to play, hosting Smoky Mountain Oct. 1 and traveling to West Oct. 3. Entering October in second place in the Mountain Seven, Franklin needed wins in both matches to tie West at 11-1, after falling to the Falcons in straight sets Sept. 10. Franklin ended September as the fifth-ranked team in the 3A West region, just behind the #4 Falcons.