FRANKLIN, Mass. — When Franklin earned the final point of the match to seal a win, their traditional jubilation was replaced by a sigh of relief.
The Panthers were three points away from completing a sweep of #13 Acton-Boxborough before the visitors rattled off a late run and prolonged the match with a win in the third set.
Franklin played its best volleyball in the fourth set to create its lone double-digit lead of the match. And once again, just three points away from victory, the Revolution came charging back. Acton-Boxborough used an 8-2 run, fighting off five straight match points to get within three points. But a handling error gave Franklin the final point and the Panthers closed out a 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21) win in a Division 1 Round of 16 matchup.
“I think across the board, we could have done better at pretty much everything,” said Franklin head coach Samantha Redmond. ”I think we all felt it, I think we’re all aware of the fact that we could have done better. At this point in the year, we should do better.”
There wasn’t much separation in the third set, the largest lead at any point was five points early on for the Panthers. After some back and forth, the hosts were able to get a little breathing room on a kill from senior Rachael Taylor to make it 22-19. Out of a timeout, a service error and hitting error shrunk the lead down to one, and a kill put A-B ahead.
A Franklin timeout couldn’t stop the Revolution’s momentum and they added a kill to take a 23-22 lead. Taylor (nine kills, three blocks) used a tip to bring Franklin level, but A-B closed it out with a kill and a net violation to take it 26-24.
That seemed to ignite the hosts, who turned a 6-6 fourth set into a more comfortable lead with an 8-0 burst. Junior Sasha Tracey (40 assists, four blocks) came up with a big block on an outside attack, junior Taylor Lacerda had back-to-back kills, including a perfect line shot, and senior Georgia Harvey (15 digs) dropped in an ace.
Taylor had a kill and then got another point after sending the defense scrambling on a nice tip. Freshman Makayla Kuykendall picked a nice spot deep on the court to cap the run, giving Franklin a 14-6 lead.
A good swing by Kuykendall (14 kills, 12 digs) was popped back up by the A-B defense only to be swatted right back down at the net by the freshman, junior Jennifer Soohoo followed with a strong serve that couldn’t be returned, and junior Grace Lacerda (four kills, five blocks) went up and put down a free ball with a block as Franklin pushed its lead to 20-11.
Lacerda (13 kills, 11 digs) drilled one off of the block and an A-B error presented Franklin with match point. But it was the Revolution that rallied with three kills, an ace, and a strong serve, and suddenly, with a 5-0 burst, the visitors were within three at 24-21. But Franklin snapped the run as A-B had a handling error to end it.
“It’s something that we’ve been trying to focus on, this isn’t the regular season anymore,” Redmond said. “Every team that we’re going to play, deserves to be here. You can’t coast, you need to play and finish things when you have the chance.
“I hope this lights the fire for them. I hope this is eye-opening enough for them that if they don’t want the season to end, and they want to keep playing, they have to go get it.”
Franklin volleyball (16-3) is set to take on #5 Barnstable in a Division 1 state quarterfinal matchup, with the date and time to be announced.