The Franklin Community High School girls volleyball team appears intent on running the table in the Mid-State Conference this fall.
So far, there hasn’t been much put up in the way of resistance.
The Grizzly Cubs have yet to give a way so much as a set in league play, a streak that they continued Tuesday evening by cruising to a 25-11, 25-22, 25-14 road win.
Franklin can claim the outright Mid-State title by topping Martinsville at home Oct. 4. The Artesians improved to 4-0 in conference play by defeating Whiteland on Tuesday.
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Coincidentally, Martinsville is also the alma mater of Franklin coach Roxanne Chapman.
The Grizzly Cubs (16-3, 5-0) controlled Tuesday’s first set from the outset, building a quick 6-0 lead and adding two seven-point runs later in the game.
The second set offered a bit more drama. The Woodmen (5-17, 1-3) led twice early and had the score tied on eight occasions before running off four points in a row to seize a 21-19 edge. Franklin called a timeout to right the ship, though, and did just that, building a game-ending 6-1 run on a pair of Brooke Phillips tips and aces from Addie Payne and Isabell Mahin.
“I thought they played scrappy the second game,” Chapman said of Greenwood. “We’re not used to people keeping it off the floor. But that was OK; we came back in the third game and played better.”
Greenwood led 2-1 in the third and final set before the visitors took command by scoring 10 of the next 11 points. Franklin closed out the match on a back-row kill by Phillips.
Rachel Kinney paced the Grizzly Cubs with 15 kills and Alyvia Sundheimer added seven. Phillips wound up with five kills, 30 assists and 12 digs, and Brooklyn Peddicord contributed a team-high 14 digs.
Greenwood coach Amanda Ratliff was pleased with the effort her team showed, especially with some players out of the lineup due to injury.
“We just wanted to play our best, and I think we played pretty close to that,” Ratliff said. “I liked what I saw, and we’ll play them a couple more times this year.”
While on the brink of another league crown, Franklin has other goals in mind as well — with winning next week’s county tournament among them.
“We’ve bonded really well over the last couple of games, working together,” Mahin said. “Playing in some of the tournaments, we’ve had some challenging teams, so maybe that’ll help us get back at Center Grove.”
