FRANKLIN, Mass. — Right until the end, Franklin refused to give up.
Barnstable moved within a set of winning the Division 1 state quarterfinal with a dominating third set and had all of the momentum on their side with a 2-1 lead, and an early advantage in the fourth set.
Instead, fourth-seeded Franklin erased a four-point deficit with a 5-1 burst to pull even at 12-12. They took their first lead of the fourth set right out of a timeout and never trailed the rest of the way, outscoring the visiting Red Hawks 18-6 to tie the match at 2-2 and force a deciding fifth set. Barnstable, the fifth seed, pulled away after the switch to secure the 3-2 win and advance to the Division 1 state semifinal.
After splitting the first four sets, each winning in dominating fashion and each winning a close game, the fifth started exactly as one would predict between two of the best teams in the state.
The first 14 points were split right down the middle, with neither team leading by more than a point. A kill from Makayla Kuykendall (12 kills, seven digs) helped Mansfield take a lead at 2-1, and a roll shot down the line from the freshman made it 5-4 in favor of the hosts. Junior Grace Lacerda placed a tip perfectly in to make it 6-6, and a blast down the line from junior Taylor Lacerda made it 7-7. A service error gave the Red Hawks the edge, 8-7, at the switch.
Barnstable middle Lindsay Jones dropped in a tip, came up with a block, found a hole in the Franklin defense with a roll, and then added a kill for a 4-0 run that gave the visitors the separation they needed. Franklin fought off a pair of match points, getting a push from Rachael Taylor and an ace from Taylor Lacerda (14 kills, nine digs) to get within four but the Red Hawks closed it out for the win.
“I’m so happy with the way they played,” said Franklin head coach Samantha Redmond. “In that fifth set, when [Barnstable] went on their four-point run right after we switched sides, it could have been very easy for the girls to throw in the towel but they fought until the very last point. I’m so proud of them for that and for just continuing to fight. Losing is never fun, especially at this point in the season, but they played so well. Barnstable did a great job and we played really well too.”
Although Franklin didn’t have the best start to the match, they showed their fight in the opening set. Barnstable, which brought a large group of supporters on the road, raced out to a 7-0 lead to start things off. But the Panthers were able to shake off the nerves and won 12 of the next 17 points, getting key double blocks from Jennifer Soohoo (12 digs) and Taylor (five kills, three blocks), as well as Sasha Tracey and Grace Lacerda. Aces from Kuykendall and senior libero Georgia Harvey followed by a back row kill from Kuykendall tied it 12-12.
It stayed close the rest of the way, a block from Tracey (33 assists, eight digs) closing the gap to 21-19, but Barnstable had some success swinging from the middle and closed it out 25-21.
Franklin looked like a different team in the second set, finding their groove midway through after an even start. Holding a two-point lead at 9-7, the Panthers rattled off a 9-2 run to pull away. Taylor Lacerda dropped in a tip, had a kill from the right side, and added an ace, Taylor had a block and a tip kill, and Kuykendall had a big kill on an outside swing as Franklin established an 18-9 lead.
Barnstable broke the run with two points but Franklin closed it out with a 5-0 run, a kill from Grace Lacerda (three kills, three blocks) in the middle off a set from Tracey, and then three straight strong serves from Soohoo, including two aces.
The third couldn’t have gone much worse for the Panthers. A kill from Grace Lacerda cut into Barnstable’s lead at 7-4 but the Red Hawks went on an 11-0 run with Franklin committing six unforced errors in that stretch. Franklin finally got back on the board but a 7-3 run closed it out, 25-8.
“It didn’t look good after three but I think it was just about reminding them that they did just play that well in the second set and winning the way they did,” Redmond said. “A loss is a loss, doesn’t matter if it’s by two or however many it was in that third, but you can still work your butt off and come back in the next set.
“They played the game they know how to play in the fourth. We were timid in the third. I don’t care if you miss a point when you’re swinging, I’d be more upset if they just played safe. We wanted to hit the ball, we wanted to play our game.”
A kill from Taylor Lacerda preceded a good serve from Kuykendall, and a tip from Taylor brought Franklin even at 12-12 in the fourth. Harvey recorded an ace, Taylor had a kill off the block, and a kill from Soohoo on the right side made it 17-15 in the fourth. A kill from Kuykendall forced a timeout from the visitors at 20-17, but Grace Lacerda came up with a big block on the first point after the break to keep the momentum with the Panthers. Kuykendall had back-to-back aces and the Lacerda twins combined for a double block to end it, 25-17.
Franklin volleyball finishes the season at 16-4 with three of its losses coming to teams in the state semifinals (Barnstable, Lincoln-Sudbury, and King Philip) and the fourth on the road at Attleboro, who made the Round of 8. It was another strong season for the Panthers, who deployed a mostly new lineup this season.
“We didn’t just lose four seniors [from last year], they were four huge seniors that started and played every second of every game,” Redmond said. “We had a lot of young blood getting minutes in this year. They had to go through that growing process, kind of like a growth spurt. It was a bit of a roller coaster, a lot of things happened this year but I think it brought them together and brought them closer. It taught them to work together and to trust one another. You can’t win alone, in volleyball you have to rely on your teammates because you physically can’t do it yourself.”
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