Pisgah volleyball takes down Franklin in thriller, earns No. 17 seed for states
Oct. 22—After dropping a back-and-forth marathon first set 35-33, Pisgah escaped with a thrilling five-set victory over rival Franklin on Monday night in Canton in the first round of the Mountain Seven tournament.
"Even through all years of high school, that's the longest set I've ever been a part of," Pisgah senior libero Shelby Pless said. "It was so intense. It did suck that they won that set because everyone was so emotional, but in the end we ended up pulling it through."
The Bears trailed 10-6 just five points away from losing the match in the decisive fifth set but battled back to win 15-13.
"They continue just to show more heart and dedication every time that they step on the court," Pisgah head coach Heidi Morgan said. "In that last set, it's so easy in that situation just to quit in game five when you only play to 15, but they decided they weren't done and they're hungry."
After dropping such a hard fought and competitive first set, the Bears seized momentum in the second and third sets, winning 25-19 and 25-18 respectively. Pisgah's home crowd erupted when Bears' junior hitter Laura Piva punctuated the third with a booming kill to take a 2-1 set lead.
"I will always 100% say that the Pisgah community, Canton community and Pisgah students are the absolute greatest you will ever encounter," Morgan said. "I will put them up against anyone in the world and I will never back down from that statement."
It was the Franklin side of the gym that went wild at the end of the fourth when the Panthers claimed a 25-20 win to even it back up at two apiece.
Franklin started fast in the fifth, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before increasing it 10-6. But Pisgah refused to go down, clawing back to take a 13-12 lead on a perfectly placed tip shot from senior hitter Ashtyn Frady, forcing a Panther timeout.
Tied 13-13, the Bears inched closer to victory on a tip by senior hitter Emma Deaver. Pisgah closed out the match on a powerful kill by junior hitter Maddie Rhea, moving to 3-0 against Franklin on the year.
"We haven't always had the best record when it comes to beating Franklin, especially last year, so to beat them three times this year, it's just crazy and it shows how far we've come," Pless said. "Anytime we play Franklin it's always loud, it's always crazy. So for us to be able to battle back with them like that, it feels really good."
Frady thought one thing separated the Bears from winning or losing in such an intense and emotional back-and-forth match.
"We wouldn't have won without heart, for sure," Frady said. "That's what it came down to, was who had the most heart, because both teams played with really good skill tonight."
Although the Bears tournament run ended on a 3-0 loss to North Henderson, they finished third in the conference regular season and did enough to earn the No. 17 seed in the western region of the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs.
Pisgah is set to travel to No. 16 seed Oak Grove out of Winston-Salem Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup with the Grizzlies, who finished second in the Mid-Piedmont conference with an 11-8 overall record and a 7-3 conference mark.
