Whiteland’s Haley Kunz passes the ball during Thursday’s match at Columbus East.
Mike Wolanin | For the Daily Journal
Mike Wolanin | For The Daily Journal
COLUMBUS
For the first two sets, Franklin looked comfortably in control of its Class 4A sectional volleyball opener against East Central at Columbus East Thursday night. After winning the first two sets 25-13 and 25-15, it appeared that the third set would be a mere formality.
But the Trojans had other ideas in the third set, taking it to the brink before the Grizzly Cubs were able to put East Central away, winning the set 28-26 to sweep the match in three straight sets.
Next up for Franklin (20-9) is a Saturday morning semifinal against Columbus North. Whiteland battled against the host Olympians in the second match of the evening and was defeated 25-19, 25-9, 25-15.
“I thought we came out nervous and tight,” Franklin coach Pat Carlson said. “We don’t play a lot of seniors. We are young and inexperienced, and for some reason we had a lack of confidence coming out tonight.”
If the Grizzly Cubs were nervous in the early match, they hid those nerves extremely well early on. The Trojans were able to hang tight with Franklin early in the first set, but once the Grizzly Cubs took a 6-5 lead, they never looked back. Steadily pulling ahead and keeping the pressure on East Central, they ended the set on a 20-8 run to close it out.
The second set looked much like the first, however East Central seemed to gain some footing against the Grizzly Cubs. Much of the set was back and forth, as neither team led by more than two points up to a 14-14 tie. But once again, Franklin went on a run at the end of the set, outscoring the Trojans 11-1 the rest of the way.
“We recovered pretty well in the second set,” Carlson said. “The one thing that I feel is extremely important is communication, and we didn’t do that very well early on but it improved as the match went on, which led to our improved play.”
In the third set, it was East Central whose play improved. The Trojans scored the first point of the set and led by as many as six points at 18-12 without trailing. But it was déjà vu for the Grizzly Cubs. Once again, they managed to go on a run, this time outscoring the Trojans 11-4 to tie the set at 22. East Central did not fold, however, and earned itself a set point at 24-23. Franklin managed to save that point, as well as a second set point, before finishing out the match.
The common denominators in each of the Grizzly Cubs’ scoring bursts were outside hitters Scarlett Kimbrell and Rose Mahin. Whenever Franklin needed a point, it was one of those two that came through. Mahin led Franklin with 17 kills, followed by Kimbrell’s 14.
“It wasn’t that we wanted to go outside all night,” Carlson said. “Our defense and passing wasn’t great, so that’s where we had to go. We like to be able to attack from all three positions, but we were not able to do that as much tonight. But it’s survive and advance to the next one, and that’s what we did tonight.”
The Warriors (9-19) struggled to get anything going, as Columbus East dominated the match up front. The Olympians’ duo of Gabby Dean and Maddie Kline were just too much for Whiteland on this night.
In the first set, Whiteland was able to keep pace with Columbus East early, trailing 12-10. Olympians coach Ellyn McIntosh then called timeout, and from there it was all Columbus East. The host team outscored the Warriors 9-1 to lead by as many as ten points, 21-11, before the Warriors clawed their way back to within 24-19.
Whiteland was never able to get any momentum in the second set, as Columbus East led from start to finish, steadily pulling away from the Warriors.
“Our focus coming into the match was communication and fundamentals tonight, but I felt like we lost confidence in ourselves, our teammates, and our ability to do our jobs tonight,” Whiteland coach Jill Cain said. “We didn’t capitalize on some of the chances that we did get. We were just afraid to make mistakes.”
The third set was much the same, as the Olympians led from the start, not giving the Warriors a chance to get any momentum going. And although Whiteland’s effort never wavered, Columbus East was just overwhelming.
“I feel like we have a ton of talent,” Cain said. “We are young, so hopefully we will continue to improve with our court awareness and continue to grow during the club season.”
