Nearly halfway through the season, Panther volleyball remains unbeaten.
Having lost just one set out of 25 in their first eight matches, on the week of Sept. 2 Franklin continued their conference schedule in meetings with Mountain Seven foes North Henderson and Smoky Mountain. In 3-0 wins over the Knights and Mustangs, Bekah Brooks’ team improved to 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference, ahead of a home showdown with 4-0 West Henderson Sept. 10.
On Tuesday, Sept. 3 the Panthers welcomed North Henderson to Tom Raby Court, who entered the match well below their usual standard at 1-7. There Franklin proved why they’re the defending conference champions, taking a 14-6 early lead behind four points from senior Kyrah Bowles. Senior Ryan Green added three points down the stretch to win the first set 25-10.
North looked better to begin the second, sitting down just 9-5 despite three points apiece from Green and Piper Wittekind. Once again Franklin controlled the end of the set however, getting five more points from Bowles to blow North out 25-11.
North regrouped to claw their way from a 6-0 deficit in the third, cutting Franklin’s lead to 18-17 despite stellar defense from McKayla Sanders. After talking things over in a timeout though, the Panthers stayed cool under pressure, getting two points apiece from Green and Bristol Brooks to take the set 25-20. In improving to 9-0 overall without injured front-row standouts Cali Queen and Audrey Pressley, after the match Sanders discussed the team’s keys to success so far.
“I think just confidence in knowing that we’re good and coming back from a season of being conference champs. Just staying up to that level and knowing that we can do it again,” she said. “We’ve had to pull some [JV players] up and that’s been kind of rough, but I think we’ve adapted pretty well from that. Cali and Audrey have definitely been [two] of our biggest supporters on the sidelines too, so that’s helped us a bunch for sure. Just knowing that we can do it even when they’re not there, and knowing that it’s not over for us this season – that we can still do it.”
Two nights later, the team traveled to Sylva to face 2-6 Smoky Mountain. There the Panthers wasted little time against the Mustangs, scoring the first seven points including two Bowles kills. Green poured in five more kills down the stretch to win the first set 25-10.
Franklin carried their momentum into the second, turning two kills apiece from Green, Bowles and Aubrey Haley into a 16-4 lead. Bowles added four more kills to stellar defense from Sanders for another 25-10 win.
Smoky regrouped to begin the third, scoring the first six points to force a Panther timeout. Slowly Franklin clawed their way back however, getting four kills from Bowles including three in a row to tie the set at 12. Several Panthers played tough defense from there to hold the Mustangs off 25-18.
After dispatching North and Smoky, the Panthers prepared for a difficult week ahead, with matches versus Murphy, West Henderson and Rabun Gap. West entered the Sept. 10 match as Franklin’s chief rival in the conference, having narrowly lost the M7 title to the Panthers last fall.