Franklin and Center Grove know each other well.
In their first two meetings of the season, Center Grove came out on top. It was much of the same in the championship of the Class 4A Greenwood Sectional, as the Trojans took down the Grizzly Cubs in three sets, 25-16, 25-13 and 25-22.
Center Grove (28-6) moves on to face second-ranked Providence in a regional semifinal at Bloomington North.
Trojans head coach Chris Due was happy with how his team started.
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"I thought the first two sets we played some of our best volleyball this year," he said.
It was on the power of Center Grove’s frontcourt and Franklin miscues that the Trojans took the first set
"We had a plan in place and things we were working on, and then in the heat of the game some of that crumbles," Franklin coach Roxanne Chapman said.
Franklin (27-8) refused to go away. The Grizzly Cubs took an early 6-5 lead in set two but Center Grove middle hitter Jaime Brown had other plans. She sent a thunderous shot to the floor to end a long rally and steal all momentum from the Grizzly Cubs.
"We have been working at practice on just not ending plays, prolonging rallies, keeping the plays going, letting our defense take over and eventually breaking teams down," Due said.
It was all Trojans the rest of set two. Grace Boggess provided some impressive defensive work and Calista Stafford added the firepower to spark a closing 8-2 run.
In the third game of the match, Franklin was able to claw its way back from an early four-point deficit after Logan Stasik snuck a ball past the Trojan defense.
The Trojans offered a response thanks to junior hitter Anna Line, who provided a much-needed kill for her team.
Franklin setter Brooke Phillips placed a beautiful no-look tip shot in the middle of a group of Trojans to cut the deficit to 16-14, and the Grizzly Cubs made a run on Brooklynn Peddycord’s serve to take their first lead of the set at 19-18.
Holding stout and clinging on to their season, the Grizzly Cubs finally succumbed to the Trojans after Boggess and Stafford combined on a huge block that helped close it out.
"We know their team inside and out and we felt like this game just didn’t go the way we wanted it to go," Chapman said.
