FHS volleyball team posts 3-0 win to take D1 Sectional Title

Josh Perry, Managing Editor of HockomockSports.com, provides the game recap for Franklin's volleyball win 3-0 to advance to the final four.  The second FHS team to win a D1 sectional tile in as many days.

"Even after winning the first two sets, Franklin knew that it didn’t want to allow Barnstable, a perennial state power, to build any momentum in Friday afternoon’s Div. 1 quarterfinal, but the Redhawks led 24-18 in the third set and were poised to stay alive in the match. 

Then Franklin got a kill from Taylor Lacerda, then an ace from Cailyn Mackintosh. A hit went long, the setter was called for a carry, and then a net violation. Suddenly, the Panthers were only down one. Brigid Earley blasted a kill on the outside to end a rally and Franklin had stormed back, saving six set points to tie the third at 24-24. 

Twice the Panthers would take the lead but both times Barnstable answered and even had a seventh set point after a swing that went long. Earley stepped up yet again, ripping another kill off the block and tying things at 27 apiece. A shot into the net gave the Panthers a chance to serve out the match and this time they didn’t pass it up. 

After that stunning third-set comeback, Franklin advanced to the final four for only the second time in program history with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 29-27) win, avenging a loss to the then Raiders in the 2018 state semifinal. 

“They are capable of so much if they just believe in themselves,” said Franklin coach Samantha Redmond. “With every point that started to come back, they started to believe it more and more that they could take and that they could do it and it’s not worth it to give up and go to a fourth when you can win the third, so let’s try to win the third.”

Continue reading the game recap -> https://hockomocksports.com/fantastic-finish-for-franklin-volleyball-to-reach-d1-final-four/

For a photo gallery from this game -> https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/2021-2022/Fall-2021/Franklin-Barnstable-Volleyball-11-12-21/

Brigid Earley (12) and Delaney Zolnowski (11) go up for a block in the second set of Franklin’s 3-0 victory over Barnstable in the D1 quarterfinal. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)