UNION CITY – Franklin-Monroe took down Mississinawa Valley in volleyball action in three straight sets 25-15, 25-19, 25-12 on Senior night for the Blackhawks.
MV found themselves down quickly in the opening set trailing early 12-1 prompting a timeout by veteran coach Billie Hunt.
“We tend to start slow in all our games and I don’t usually get too worried about that,” Hunt said. “There were a lot of emotions on Senior night and I just needed to remind the girls to go out and have some fun.”
The ‘Hawks would show a little fight, but the early lead was insurmountable as the Jets took set one, 25-15.
The Jets again set the pace in the second set until Mississinawa got a boost from senior Sidnie Hunt, who registered 5 straight kills to spark some life in the ‘Hawks putting a little smile on their faces to keep the game interesting.
The Jets still took the second set 25-19 and then waltzed in the final set 25-12.
“We played a game last night and tonight, but prior to that we hadn’t touched a volleyball in almost a week,” Hunt said. “There were a lot of events going on including the annual Fall Fair, and we just didn’t have a lot of touches last week. We came out rough last night at Bradford and tonight we were a little slow as well.
“We knew Franklin-Monroe was going to be a tough match, but I just wanted to see the girls come out on Senior night and have some fun,” she continued. “Once we got going I thought we blocked well, dug and hit it well too, and I told Angie (Franklin-Monroe volleyball coach) that I’m glad we ended the regular season playing them in order to prepare us for our postseason tournament.”
Franklin-Monroe’s coach Angie Filbrun also thought her team was a little lax the previous night, but was more than pleased with how they came out and performed tonight.
“Last night we played slow and didn’t come out swinging the way I thought we should, but tonight we came out ready to go,” Filbrun said. “Chloe Peters played incredible and I told her that after the game, she was big for us tonight.
“Kennedy Morris also had a really nice game, her serving was spectacular along with her setting, which was spot on tonight,” she continued. “Our setters don’t often get enough credit and work their tails off without a lot of notoriety.”
Franklin-Monroe improved to 17-4 on the year and 10-2 in the Cross County Conference to finish in third place behind Miami East and Arcanum. The Jets will honor their seniors Thursday night where they will take on Preble Shawnee.
Mississinawa Valley falls to 10-12 on the year and 6-6 in the Cross County Conference. The Blackhawks next game will be in the Division IV sectional tournament which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17 against
Mechanicsburg at Troy High School.