Lady Panther volleyball has won two of three matches for the second week in a row.
After beating Swain County and East Henderson to wrap up their week Aug. 25 and 26, the Panthers spent the last weekend of August preparing for a busy pre-Labor Day week. With three matches in four days against the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School and new Mountain Seven rivals Tuscola and Pisgah, Franklin emerged from the jam-packed week with two more wins and a hard-fought loss.
Just south of the Georgia state line Aug. 30, the Panthers showed little sign of the Monday doldrums against the Eagles of Rabun Gap. Against a team that carried a 1-4 record into the start of Monday’s match, Franklin didn’t waste any time, shellacking the Eagles 25-11 to claim the first set. Rabun Gap tightened up the screws in the second set, earning 18 points before the Panthers reached 25, but only managed 13 in the third before Franklin completed the sweep.
On Wednesday, Sept. 1 the degree of difficulty ratcheted up a bit for Franklin in the form of the Tuscola Mountaineers. In the teams’ first official meeting as rivals in the newly-formed Mountain Seven Conference, Franklin started the rivalry off on the right foot, racing out to an early 12-5 lead in the first set. After a timeout, the Mountaineers were able to regroup, cutting Franklin’s lead to 17-20 despite some nice hitting by Avery Moffitt, Anya Valentine and Andrea Terrell. Tuscola was unable to complete the comeback though, and went on to drop the set 25-19.
Down one set to zero in front of yet another loud Panther crowd, the Mountaineers came out in the second, matching Franklin point for point nearly every step of the way. Even when Franklin looked like it might pull ahead with four straight points to go up 17-13, Tuscola called timeout and took the next four to re-tie the score. With nothing to separate the teams at 26-26, the mood inside Tom Raby Court reached a fever pitch as both sides tried to string together two consecutive points.
On the ensuing point, Valentine slingshotted one of her trademark kills right at a Tuscola player, forcing the Mountaineer to mishandle the ball and give the Panthers a 27-26 lead. Moments later, senior outside hitter Corey Burrell sent a beautiful kill to the far outside corner of Tuscola’s area, giving Franklin a 28-26 win for the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
After losing the razor-thin second game, Tuscola seemed a bit deflated to start the third, watching Franklin jump out to a 5-1 early lead. Despite a quick Mountaineer surge to pull within one at 7-6, Franklin cruised through the rest of the set led by Terrell, winning 11 of the next 13 points to go up 18-8. On the next point however, Franklin’s good mood was dampened considerably when Terrell and Valentine both dove to dig up a Tuscola attack and collided, sending both to the floor.
While Terrell came away with just a bruise to the forehead and re-entered the match a few minutes later, Valentine seemed to bear the brunt of the collision, taking a hard hit to the jaw and requiring attention from FHS head athletic trainer Lynette Gibson. The standout senior was screened for concussion-like symptoms and did not play in the team’s conference matches against Pisgah and North Henderson. She will likely remain sidelined until at least the Sep. 16 match against Robbinsville, dealing a heavy blow to the Panthers’ front row in a two-week span that includes four conference matches.