By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Sometime in the next few days, Scott senior Kelly Franxman will close the book on her impressive high school volleyball career. The talented outside hitter hopes her final match will be in the championship final of the state tournament on Sunday. That would be an exciting ending to her five-year stint in the Eagles’ varsity lineup.
“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” Franxman said of finishing out her final season. “I’m just super excited to go out there and hope I do well at the tournament. I know I’m going to be sad when it’s over. It’s inevitable, but all great things must come to an end.”
This is the fourth consecutive year that Scott’s volleyball team has earned a berth in the state tournament as the 10th Region champion and Franxman has been a starter on every one of those successful teams.
This season, she surpassed the 2,000 mark in career kills and was named 10th Region Player of the Year. She also stepped into a leadership role for the Eagles, who started the season with three first-year starters on the court.
“She’s kind of always been a real quiet player,” said Scott coach Andrea Sullivan. “She’s not anybody that’s going to get really loud, but you she her throughout the match picking the other girls up and telling them where to hit, just really kind of being a coach on the court for them.”
Franxman, who plays for the Tri-State Elite volleyball club, was recruited by several major college programs before making a commitment with Xavier University last May.
She wanted to stay close to home so her family and friends could watch her play in college like they did during her remarkable high school career. In addition to setting a team record in career kills with a total that currently stands at 2,027, she has been a steady backcourt player with 1,177 defensive digs.
Franxman will add to those impressive statistics when Scott takes on Central Hardin in the first round of the 16-team state tournament on Friday at Valley High School in Louisville.
“It’s so amazing the way my senior year has been and it’s great to top it all off (at the state tournament),” she said. “We’ve just worked really hard from July on. We knew it was going to be really tough because we had some people not come back and some seniors graduate. We just kept at it, going hard every day in practice and really worked for it.”
Scott won all five of its district and regional playoff matches in three games and takes a 25-14 record into the state tournament. The Eagles made it to the semifinals in the 2014 season finale and lost in the first round the last two years. Franxman was a starter on all three of those teams, but none of the other players on the current roster come close to matching her state tournament experience.
“We’re going to have to play pretty solid games,” Sullivan said. “We have to minimize our errors, make sure we serve the ball aggressively, do our jobs defensively and just attack and don’t let up.”
The coach said junior middle hitter Summer Secrist and senior outside hitter Lindsey Fox have given the Eagles a balanced attack. They were named to the 10th Region all-tournament team along with Franxman and sophomore setter Keaton Mossman, one of the team’s first-year starters.
“When Kelly is in the back row, we have Summer in the front row and it’s nice to have two really solid hitters,” Sullivan said. “Summer’s No. 1 sport is basketball, but it’s really nice having her on the volleyball court because she’s so athletic. She’s our best blocker and she’s just stepped up and done a really good job in the post-season.”
The coach has also been impressed with the steady play of freshman outside hitter Elise Henderson and eighth-grader Payton Fields, a defensive specialist who plays libero in the back row.
“Besides Kelly, we have a pretty young group and it’s really been fun watching them grow and develop,” Sullivan said.
VOLLEYBALL STATE TOURNAMENT
(at Louisville Valley High School)
FRIDAY – UPPER BRACKET
South Warren vs. Letcher County Central, 9:30 a.m.
North Oldham vs. Meade County, 11 a.m.
Louisville Mercy vs. Paintsville, 12:30 p.m.
Lexington Dunbar vs. Rowan County, 2 p.m.
FRIDAY – LOWER BRACKET
West Jessamine vs. McCracken County, 3:30 p.m.
SCOTT vs. Central Hardin, 5 p.m.
Louisville Assumption vs. Henderson County, 6:30 p.m.
ST. HENRY vs. Corbin, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Upper bracket quarterfinals, 10 and 11:30 a.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinals, 1 and 2:30 p.m.
Semifinals, 7 and 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Championship match, 2 p.m.