Franklinton suffered a 25-3, 25-14, 25-12 loss to St. Scholastica Academy, a team that makes deep playoff runs year after year, in Monday’s District 5-II contest at home.
“SSA is a great team and they’re always a tough district game that we prepare for as best we can,” Franklinton coach Caleb Mulina said. “We made some adjustments with our lineup through the different sets and had some positive results. All six of us have to play to the best of our ability for every set in order to compete on that level, and that’s something we always have to keep working toward.”
Franklinton got down 1-0 in the first game before evening the score at 1-1. The Doves broke the serve and Kellie Garraway made it 3-1 with a kill. The Lady Demons tallied to make it a 4-2 contest.
St. Scholastica took control of the opening set after that, scoring 11 in a row to extend the lead to 15-2.
Franklinton trimmed the deficit to 12, but the Doves finished the game on a 10-0 run that was capped off by an ace from Garraway in the 25-3 contest.
The Lady Demons were more competitive in the next two games.
Franklinton’s Shalay Allen began the second game by downing a kill to give the Lady Demons their first lead of the afternoon at 1-0. Franklinton extended it to 2-0 before Anna Champ posted a kill to make it a 2-1 contest.
Franklinton went up 6-3, but the Doves chipped away at the lead and caught the Lady Demons at 8-8.
St. Scholastica took its first lead of the second game, 9-8, but the Lady Demons rebounded and tied it at 9-9.
But the Doves ran off five unanswered points and were up 14-9.
Franklinton made it 14-10, but the Doves, again, scored five straight, as they worked toward the 25-point goal and won the game, 25-14, with Champ posting the winning point on an ace.
Franklinton tallied the opening point in the third game, but the Doves responded with four in a row to take a 4-1 lead.
The Lady Demons’ Alyssa Smith ended the run with a kill, but the Doves added two more to their advantage and went up 7-2.
Franklinton then went on a 3-0 run and trailed by just two at 7-5.
The Lady Demons got the deficit down to just one at 12-11, but the Doves scored 10-straight points to essentially put the game away.
Franklinton scored once more to make it 21-12, but with the score 24-12, Champ ended the match with a kill.
Franklinton is 7-17 overall this season, and the Lady Demons are 0-5 in district and No. 36 in the LHSAA unofficial Division II power rankings.
St. Scholastica is 26-7 overall this year and 4-0 in league play. The Doves are second in the LHSAA unofficial Division II power rankings.
Since 2011, St. Scholastica Academy has advanced to at least the Division II quarterfinals. During that time period, the Doves have made it to the state semifinals three times (2013, 2014 and 2016) and the quarterfinals the three times (2011, 2012 and 2015).
In Tuesday’s action, Franklinton lost to Lakeshore at home, 25-9, 25-7, 25-11 in District 5-II play.