By Chris Kinkaid
THE DAILY NEWS

Franklinton captured all three games over Salmen, 25-14, 27-25, 25-21, in a District 4-II match at home Tuesday.
Franklinton got out to a 14-8 lead in the first game. The Lady Spartans trimmed it to 14-9, but the Lady Demons made it a 15-9 contest.
The margin remained six points at 16-10 and then Franklinton tallied the next two points with Madison Villere posting an ace to make it 18-10.
Franklinton chipped away toward 25 points and the winning tally was by Masey Villere, who capped the 25-14 victory with a kill.
The second game was the most competitive of the match, as neither team’s lead was bigger than three.
Franklinton seemed to pick up some momentum late when the Lady Demons scored off of a shot that landed inbounds on Salmen’s side of the net to make it 21-19.
But Salmen pulled within one on the next point after winning a long rally.
The Lady Spartans scored the next two points after that and led, 22-21.
But Franklinton came back in the back-and-forth set and tallied two straight to retake the lead by one.
After Salmen tied it at 23-23, Franklinton’s Tamira Bickham downed a kill to put Franklinton just one point away from taking a two-game lead.
But Salmen’s Kourtney Stovall evened the match at 24-24 with a kill of her own.
The Lady Spartans then went back in front by one, 25-24.
Needing to win by two, the game was not over and Franklinton scored three straight points to win the hard-fought contest, 27-25.
Franklinton appeared to take the momentum from the game two win into the outset of the third game.
The Lady Demons jumped out to a 6-0 lead with Madison Villere serving. Masey Villere had a kill for the sixth point.
“Of course, it was back-and-forth, back-and-forth in the second game,” Franklinton coach Leslie McGhee said. “I believe it did carry over into the third game. The momentum carried us and put us out ahead in the third set and kind of pretty much let us lead the whole set. It’s been a struggle for us all year to finish like that.”
Salmen broke the serve, but Franklinton came back with three more points in a row, extending the lead to 9-1.
But the Lady Spartans began to come back. They scored four in a row, as Jourdan Earhart recorded an ace during the run.
After breaking the serve, Franklinton put up two more in a row and continued to work its way toward 25, but Salmen kept coming back.
The Lady Spartans cut the margin down to 12-8. But again, Franklinton worked the lead back up to 14-8, with the final point occurring when Destiny Ballard scored off a free ball.
Salmen broke serve and then Brianna Rudolph blocked a shot, getting it back to four, but Franklinton responded with a kill by Ballard and FHS had a 15-10 advantage.
After Salmen got the lead down to 15-11, Franklinton upped it to 17-11. The run started from Bickham’s kill.
But then Salmen went on a run.
The Lady Spartans scored six consecutive points, with Alonzo recording two aces along the way and the game was tied, 17-17.
Franklinton responded once again. Bickham downed a kill to put her team in front, 18-17.
Salmen tied the game at 18-18.
Franklinton scored to go back into the lead and then Bickham served an ace.
From there, the Lady Demons never looked back.
Salmen won the ensuing point after a long rally.
Leading 23-20, Franklinton’s Kaitlyn Boughton put the Lady Demons in a position for game point with an ace.
Salmen avoided game point once, but not twice, as Franklinton completed the sweep with a 25-21 victory.