<p>A tenacious Greenwood volleyball team tried to make it known that Franklin’s road through the Mid-State Conference schedule might not be as easy to navigate this season as it has been in the past.</p>
<p>But even with several new starters, the Grizzly Cubs are still producing the same results that they have the past five-plus years.</p>
<p>Fending off challenges in the first two sets, Franklin opened its season by powering its way past the Woodmen on Tuesday, 25-18, 25-20, 25-10, for its 32nd consecutive league victory.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>Franklin’s last Mid-State loss came on Oct. 8, 2013 at Martinsville. The team has run through the conference schedule unscathed every season since.</p>
<p>“You never know with a whole new team, but in general I felt like everybody contributed and did a good job of stepping in and doing what they needed to do,” Grizzly Cubs coach Roxie Chapman said.</p>
<p>Both teams struggled to build momentum early in the first set, but Franklin (1-0, 1-0) eventually got going with a 9-1 run, building an 18-11 advantage that held the rest of the way. Junior Kabria Chapman keyed the surge with a kill and three blocks.</p>
<p>Greenwood (1-2, 0-1) crept back to within four on a pair of Megan Johns aces before the Grizzly Cubs picked up the final three points of the set.</p>
<p>In the second, the Woodmen climbed back from an early 10-5 deficit by scoring 11 of the next 14 points, with back-to-back kills by sophomore Melia Gorrell capping that run. Franklin, though, swung the momentum back their way on consecutive Cami Kelsay kills, then closed with a 10-1 burst. An ace by Hillari Hensley and a Chapman kill provided the biggest blows.</p>
<p>“I think we were all sort of getting used to playing with each other,” Kabria Chapman said. “It was a whole new group; we only had a few returners. So it was just getting used to who’s going to take that and who’s going to take this, and just figuring out how each other plays. I think we kind of got into the groove of that, and it will improve over the season.”</p>
<p>The third set was all Grizzly Cubs. Two Lauren Sandrock kills and a Chapman ace helped build an early 13-3 cushion, and the Woodmen got no closer than seven the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Kelsay and Chapman had 10 kills apiece to lead the way for Franklin; Chapman also had four blocks and Sandrock contributed three. Roxie Chapman credited that front-line defense with helping the Grizzly Cubs shake the Woodmen off.</p>
<p>“I thought Kabria and Lo’s blocking stepped it up, and that really helped shut down some of their players,” she said.</p>
<p>Though Tuesday’s win started Franklin’s run to a sixth consecutive Mid-State title, the players aren’t necessarily focused on maintaining that streak.</p>
<p>“Honestly, we haven’t really thought much about conference,” Kabria Chapman said. “We just want to continue to win and get better and just improve as a team.”</p>
