Franklin’s Charlie Sanders, right, hits the ball over the net during Saturday’s sectional final against GCA.
Sam Findley | For the Daily Journal
Franklin’s first-ever matchup against Greenwood Christian four weeks ago ended with a relatively quick and painless three-set sweep.
On Saturday evening, the Cougars made it clear that they had no intention of going out so quietly the second time around.
The host Grizzly Cubs still got the better of their county rivals, but they had to earn it. Pushed to the limit in each of the first two sets, Franklin was able to claim an IBVCA sectional championship with a 29-27, 25-23, 25-15 triumph.
“We had some slow starts there at the beginning, but we really pulled it back together,” junior middle Chase Alyea said. “Whenever we focus and lock in there, we’re pretty good at bringing stuff back.”
Franklin (25-5) hosts regional play next weekend, opening with a semifinal match against Westfield. Reigning state champion Roncalli potentially awaits in the final.
Center Grove also kept its season going, winning the Madison Sectional with a 25-12, 25-15, 36-34 sweep of the host Cubs. The Trojans (20-6) advance to play Lake Central in an Illiana Christian Regional semifinal; Cathedral looms as a possible championship opponent.
The Cougars took it to the Grizzly Cubs at the outset, stretching their early lead to 11-4 when Hayden Johnson dropped a deep tip just inside the end line. Franklin was still down 14-8 after a Johnson service ace before scoring seven of the next eight points — including a Jacob Miller ace and two kills apiece from Zach Newton and Chase Alyea — to tie it at 15-15.
Down by two on a pair of occasions, the last at 22-20, GCA fought back and had four opportunities to serve for the set — but Franklin answered each time, pulling even for the final time on a Newton kill that made it 27-27. The Grizzly Cubs picked up the last two points on Newton’s serve, closing it out on a Miller kill from the left side.
GCA started the second set with an identical 11-4 burst, but Franklin again gathered itself and responded, eventually taking a 16-15 lead on an Alyea kill. The Cougars got kills from Preston Van Til and Johnson to reclaim the lead, starting a tug of war that produced nine successive ties. The last of those deadlocks came at 23-23 before an Alyea tip and a GCA receiving error allowed the Grizzly Cubs to escape.
“What I saw from GCA was a completely different team than what we saw from them at the beginning of the season,” Franklin coach Sarah Records said. “The growth that they have shown this season is incredible; they’re not the same team we saw earlier this season. So that was an adjustment for us that I don’t think we were quite ready for in sets one and two.”
The third set was far more anticlimactic, with Franklin grabbing a quick 6-1 lead and keeping the Cougars at arm’s length throughout. Alyea banged home the final point of the night on his team-high 16th kill.
Miller finished with 13 kills and nine digs for the Grizzly Cubs, while Newton had 12 kills and 11 digs and setter Charlie Sanders handed out 41 assists. Nik Smock had 20 digs in the back row.
Despite the setback, GCA coach Gary Oertel was proud of the progress his 17-8 Cougars made over the course of their first-ever season — progress that showed in the final scores on Saturday, especially compared with the team’s previous trip to the same gym (a 25-12, 25-19, 25-17 Grizzly Cub sweep on April 17).
“The first time we came here, they were like, ‘Oh, this is Franklin; they’re really good,’” Oertel said. “But today, after watching them play and the improvements we’ve made, they believed they could win.”
Earlier in the day, Newton had 17 kills as Franklin advanced to the title match with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of Whiteland in one semifinal, while GCA came back from a set down to defeat Monrovia 14-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 in the other.
Having survived one weekend of postseason play, the Grizzly Cubs are set to tackle another — and confident that they can emerge with yet another trophy in hand.
“I really believe that this team is the team that’s going to make it to state for us,” Alyea said. “It’s going to be tough, but I think that this team is definitely capable.”
