As is the case with all coaches in every sport, Pat Carlson aspires for his Franklin volleyball team to be playing its best as the postseason nears.
A potentially daunting visual, considering how the Grizzly Cubs are currently performing.
Franklin dominated its annual Mid-State Conference match against Whiteland on Tuesday, earning a 25-8, 25-22, 25-10 road victory behind the 11 kills of junior outside hitter Scarlett Kimbrell and another five courtesy of freshman hitter Rose Mahin.
The win improved the Cubs record to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in league play. Whiteland dropped to 6-6 and 1-2.
Junior setter Kennedy Urban believes Franklin’s performances of late are rooted in work conducted well before the first match was played.
“I honestly think the chemistry between us all has really improved. We trust each other more out on the court,” Urban said. “It took about all summer. We worked on team bonding stuff, and before every practice we do team bonding.”
The Cubs trailed 3-2 in the first set before scoring five consecutive points, two coming on service aces from sophomore libero Kate Pinnick. Franklin kept applying the pressure by dominating at the net, namely the 6-foot Kimbrell and 5-11 junior middle blocker Veronica Whitaker.
Whiteland proved far more resilient in the following set.
Junior Kennedi Morrison helped propel the Warriors to an 8-6 advantage with two aces and a kill. The hosts’ final lead was 15-14 until kills from soph Aubrey Runyon and Kimbrell helped make it an 18-15 Grizzly Cubs lead.
Whiteland trailed only 22-21 but couldn’t get over the hump, and Franklin closed it out.
The final set basically mirrored the first, with the Warriors up 2-1 before Mahin served seven consecutive points. During that stretch, Kimbrell contributed two kills and a block, while Brooklyn York also provided a kill.
Pinnick finished with three aces for the Grizzly Cubs, with juniors Addie Reed and Brooklyn Hudson adding two apiece. For Whiteland, Morrison had four kills and two aces; Haley Kunz and Ashlyn Ricketts each produced three kills.
Carlson knows there are tough matches remaining for his team, but likes the momentum it’s built over recent matches.
“It’s just recognizing their assignments, whether it’s scouting reports or recognizing this kid is going to do that,” Carlson said. “I want to play a little faster. We played in a tournament this weekend, and we played a team or two that ran us around a little too much.
“Faster is going to be the next goal, but I can’t be disappointed. They’ve bought into everything that I’ve asked them to try. They just had to get over a couple of hurdles first mentally.”
Whiteland returns to the court tonight at Indian Creek, while Franklin plays Thursday at Bloomington South.
