By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ARCANUM — Nothing like a tournament game the week before it’s officially tournament time. Franklin Monroe hosted Tri-Village for their last regular season game on Oct. 12 on Senior Night.

The match had everything. Big leads, lead changes, momentum shifts and a close finish. The Lady Patriots were the ones to come out on top to win 3-2 over the Lady Jets in a five set match.

Tri-Village head coach Taylor Rawlings said the match was like their season, it was up and down. But when it was up, they were rolling.

“That has been our issue this whole season. We’ve kind of been like a roller coaster. But when we play good, it looks really good. We’re starting to get that scrappyness,” Rawlings said.

Franklin Monroe started out with an 8-3 lead in the first set forcing a Tri-Village timeout. The Lady Patriots went on a 3-0 run to cut into the lead after the timeout.

They eventually fought their way back to a 15-14 lead. With some strong hitting, the Lady Patriots won the first set 25-20.

The roles reversed in the second set. The Lady Patriots came out to a slim lead in the second set before the Lady Jets stormed back. With their strong hitting, Franklin Monroe got an 11-10 lead and expanded that lead to 16-11.

The Lady Jets held strong and won the second set, 25-18.

Tri-Village had a 14-8 lead during the third set as the Lady Patriots hitters had the advantage at the time. After being down 19-13, Franklin Monroe shifted into another gear.

They went on a 6-0 run to tie the game late and had a chance to steal the set away from Tri-Village. The Lady Patriots didn’t falter and came away with a 25-22 set win.

Both teams showed they could come back after slow start to sets, but both also showed they couldn’t overcome slow starts at times.

Franklin Monroe head coach Angie Filbrun said this game was a good one to play in before tournament time rolls around. They can learn from some of their mistakes when they were down early or from when they couldn’t hold on to a late lead.

“Hopefully that was a good tournament prep for us. We can learn from our mistakes and figure out what we need to do next week. Tomorrow is a new day,” Filbrun said.

The fourth set was all Franklin Monore to start. They jumped out to an 8-1 lead and were fired up. The Lady Jets were playing with an intensity that gave them an edge in the set.

But like they did all match long, Tri-Village didn’t go away. Whenever a team would go down, the defense would start to pick up to give their offense a chance to come back in the set.

The Lady Patriots did all they could to cut into the Lady Jets lead. But, Franklin Monroe came out with a 25-23 set win to force a fifth set.

The power hitters shined all match long and they continued to make their mark on this match. For the Lady Jets, juniors Allie Muhlenkamp and Presely Cox were able to power the ball through the Lady Patriots for kills.

For Tri-Village, senior Nataleigh Koontz and sophomore Kynnedi Hager both provided a spark on offense.

But in the fifth set, Tri-Village overcame an early deficit to win 15-13. The last three sets were decided by three or fewer points. The teams matched each other’s energy and battled till the very end.

Rawlings said they had a few girls out sick in this one and the freshmen that got the playing time stepped up. Players like Kenna Wilcox and Reagyn Hager stepped up and helped get this victory.

“We got a few freshmen some good minutes tonight. They proved themselves tonight. It’s going to make some decisions tough next week,” Rawlings said.

It’s now time to focus on the tournament. Tri-Village will await the winner of Cedarville and Calvary Christian and play them at Troy on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.

Rawlings said they scheduled a game at Carlisle so the team can stick to their routine of having two games a week. The extra time also allows them to get eyes on their next opponent, whoever that may be.

“Having that bye will give us those extra two days to really sit down, watch some film, break some things down so we’re prepared,” Rawlings said.

Franklin Monroe will also have a bye and await the winner of Botkins and Ansonia. They will play the winner on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Filbrun said the team will use that time to get extra practices in and have a chance to watch their next opponent.

But before this match even got underway, four Franklin Monroe seniors were honored. Natalie Suter, Jozlynn Wintrow, Mia Kellems and Keihl Johnson were all honored prior to the game.

Filbrun said they all have been a huge asset to the team and they will be missed.

“All four of them, they’ve been a part of our program for six years. They bring a lot to our program. They’re positive leaders, good kids, they worked hard. It will be sad to see them leave, but we do appreciate all that they’ve done,” Filbrun said.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]