It’s been a bittersweet week for Panther volleyball.
After a costly win over Murphy Aug. 15, from which senior outside hitter Cali Queen exited with a knee injury, Franklin soldiered on without their two-time All-Mountain Seven selection. Amid news that Queen will miss the rest of the year with three damaged ligaments, the Panthers improved to 6-0 to start the season.
On Monday, Aug. 19, the Panthers traveled to Clay County for a difficult match with Hayesville. While the Yellow Jackets had lost eight straight meetings with Franklin since 2018, ahead of the match head coach Bekah Brooks said her team couldn’t afford to get complacent.
“Hayesville is gonna be a heck of a game,” she said. “They’re really good – this is their year. They have seven or eight seniors as well, and we’ll have to be prepared for that.”
Brooks’ assessment was borne out in the early goings, with the two sides tied at 18 despite four points from senior Ryan Green. From there the Panthers finally pulled away, winning the first set 25-20 behind two points apiece from Green, sophomore Danni Ledford and senior Piper Wittekind.
Hayesville shot out of the gate to start the second set, taking a commanding 17-10 lead despite two kills apiece from Green, Wittekind and Kyrah Bowles. Green added three more points down the stretch, but Hayesville won the set 25-18.
Franklin regrouped to start the third, winning 12 of its first 17 points including four apiece from Green and Ledford. After a timeout Hayesville came roaring back to make it 15-12, but Franklin went on to win 25-20 behind three points apiece from Green, Bowles and Ledford.
Down two sets to one, Hayesville fought tooth and nail in the fourth, tying Franklin at 11 despite an ace and two kills from Green. The Panthers pulled away once again however, going on to win 25-18 behind three points apiece from Green and Bowles.
Two nights later Franklin returned to Tom Raby Court to host the West Oak Warriors of Westminster, South Carolina. There the Panthers outclassed West Oak early, taking a 10-4 lead behind four points from Green. After a brief Warrior run to tie the score at 10, Franklin got three kills from Bowles to win the set 25-16.
West Oak regrouped to begin the second, tying Franklin at 11 despite three points from freshman Ella Raby. Once again the Panthers were the better team down the stretch, winning 25-18 behind three kills from Green.
Down 2-0, West Oak came out firing to start the third, winning 14 of the first 22 points despite a superb dig from McKayla Sanders. Slowly, the Panthers clawed their way back however, tying the set at 22 with two points apiece from Green and Aubrey Haley.
From there an already-intense atmosphere on Tom Raby Court reached a fever pitch, as both sides traded points to remain tied at 24. After West Oak hit the net to put Franklin up 25-24, Ledford capped a spectacular week with a match-point kill to put the game on ice.
After their thrilling win over West Oak, the next night the Panthers traveled to East Henderson to open their Mountain Seven Conference schedule. As they have for the past few years, Franklin outclassed the Eagles in three sets.
“We went over there and actually played really, really well,” said Brooks. “Everybody got to play, some played different positions than they normally play, and did a good job. We kind of started out a little rough and put a couple of serves in the net, and then they just kicked it in gear and did a really good job.”
In routing the 1-4 Eagles 25-11, 25-11, 25-10, Franklin started off their Mountain Seven schedule on the right foot. They played their second conference game at Tuscola after press time Aug. 27.
After Queen’s injury, Ledford, Raby and junior Carrie Holland have seen their playing time noticeably increase, and have looked right at home on the front row at the varsity level. The trio will likely be permanent fixtures in the lineup for the rest of the season. While Franklin is now without two of its best front-row players from last fall, with sophomore Audrey Pressley also sidelined several months with a back injury, Brooks said she’s been pleased with her team’s resilience on the court.
“They have really adapted well so far,” she said. “Even the other night against West Oak – they were very competitive, and we were having to pull ourselves out there at the end. But they did a really, really good job adapting to that, with playing different positions and two JVs being pulled up, playing that position and bouncing back and forth. I just thought they did a good job of trying to make it work and trying to figure out what’s working best for our team now.”