Panther volleyball has started their year with a bang.
After months of offseason work, on the week of Aug. 11 the team began their regular season, traveling to Hayesville and Enka for nonconference matches. Despite multiple tough sets including a double-digit deficit, Franklin escaped with two 3-0 wins.
On Aug. 11, the season’s first official day, the Panthers traveled to Hayesville for their opener with the Yellow Jackets. There Audrey Pressley and Ella Raby came out firing, combining for 12 of Franklin’s first 21 points. Sophomore Emma Hatch heated up down the stretch, adding four of Franklin’s last 10 to win the first set 25-15.
Pressley stayed hot in the second, posting four kills in Franklin’s first seven points to take an 11-6 lead. Hayesville answered from there, winning 12 of the next 15 to jump ahead 18-14. Franklin quickly regained control however, winning 11 of the next 14 including two Shelby Adams aces. On set point she and Bristol Brooks combined for an excellent two-person save, before another Raby kill to cement the win 25-22.
Both teams stayed neck-and-neck into the third, with eight Panthers scoring Franklin’s first 13 points. Eventually they began to pull ahead, led by three more kills from Pressley to win 25-17.
“I knew that they were going to try to play their best against us, and they played very well,” said head coach Bekah Brooks of the familiarity between the two teams, herself and Hayesville coach Tammy Dills. “I thought we played well, but I thought we played safe – just enough to win, but not to our full potential. … A lot of that is, you’ve prepared all summer and you have those nerves. You’re truly playing for that first win and you get to put the uniform on, you get to be with your team with all the chants and the cheers and when the scoreboard turns on, it changes things up a little bit. But I was proud of them coming together, playing hard and winning there in three.”
Upon returning home from Hayesville, the next night the Panthers traveled to Enka for a nonconference match with the Jets. There Pressley and Raby came out firing once again, combining for seven of Franklin’s first 12 points. Pressley added three more kills down the stretch for a narrow 25-22 win.
Enka responded to start the second, jumping out to a 16-5 lead. Franklin soon came roaring back however, ending the set with a 20-7 run for an unlikely 25-23 win.
Both teams traded the lead back and forth in the third, sitting tied at 15 including five points from Finley Moffitt. From there Franklin slowly began to pull ahead, helped by three points from Bristol Brooks to win 25-19.
“It was a hotbox for sure – we went over there and I think I lost five pounds last night, but no excuses, right?” said Brooks with a laugh. “Man, they played great the first game, and we go into the second and we get down 11 points. … I called a timeout and just told them it is the easiest thing in the world to do to quit, especially since we know we have another game, and, ‘Oh, we’re 11 points down; let’s just ride this game out and start fresh the next game.’ I’m like, ‘I just don’t want to see that – no quitting,’ and we dug out of the 11-point hole and came back and won the second game. … I was just so dang proud of them.”
With just two seniors on this year’s roster including the currently-injured Maggie Shields, Franklin’s second-set comeback was an impressive feat. Despite the team’s youth however, Brooks said what they lack in experience they make up for in determination.
“They have bought in. I mean, this summer I could probably count on a hand, a hand or two all of the girls – you’re talking 29 girls – that may have missed a day, and that’s with appointments and work and vacations and stuff like that,” said Brooks. “They were there, they wanted to be there, they worked hard. Some of those in the summer we’re practicing for three hours, and we’re doing things together with team bonding and trying to incorporate some other leadership things, and I’ve just been so proud of them. … It’s starting to show, and we still have a long way to go just truly grinding in some of those rotations and stuff, but that’s part of it.”
After dispatching Enka, the Panthers continued a four-match season-opening road trip, traveling to King’s Mountain Aug. 19. The varsity team will play their first home match on Aug. 25 versus Asheville School.