HANOVER, Ind. – The Hanover Panthers (19-7 overall, 6-2 HCAC) captured the Victory Ball for the third straight year defeating Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Franklin 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-23).
 
Hanover was led by freshman Abbey McCoy (Indianapolis, Ind.) with a team-high eight kills on 24 attempts. She posted a .250 hitting percentage. Senior Casey Dunn (Fort Thomas, Ky.) added 21 digs.
 
Hanover got a sluggish start to open set number one allowing the Grizzlies to storm ahead 16-9. However, the Blue and Red answered with a 4-0 run paced by freshman Megan Vogel (North Vernon, Ind.) to pull within 17-16. But Franklin refused to surrender swinging the momentum back into their favor en route to the 22-20 advantage. The home crowd brought the energy the Panthers needed to flip the script as they were able to use another 4-0 run for the 24-22 lead. Sophomore CC Shick (Fort Thomas, Ky.)  secured the win with a monstrous kill.
 
Set two would see Hanover dominate surging ahead 12-5 following a McCoy kill. Hanover continued to be all gas surrendering just seven more points to Franklin, capturing the set two win 25-12.
 
The final set saw a battle between the Panthers and Grizzlies as Franklin used a 5-0 rally to pull ahead 11-10. They continued on the attack providing another clutch surge that pushed them on top 17-13. However, Hanover refused to be tamed slowly chipping at the Franklin lead before a junior Jessie Stenger (St. Leon, Ind.) kill gave them the 23-22 lead. Junior Molly Schwarzkopf (Greenfield, Ind.) handled the rest with an ace to secure the straight set win.
 
Hanover wraps up regular season play on Saturday, Nov. 4 when they celebrate Senior Day with Anderson.