By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor

BILLERICA, Mass. — Makayla Kuykendall‘s tank is officially empty.

The senior gave every last ounce of energy and effort on Saturday night in the Division 1 championship game against powerhouse Newton North. But she had just enough left for one more swing.

That swing hammered to the floor in the back corner, the clinching point to finish off Franklin’s comeback and secure a 15-12 win in the fifth set to clinch a 3-2 (25-15, 25-27, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12) victory over the Tigers. It was the final point of the season, and fittingly, it came off the hand that has steadied the Panthers over the past four years.

“I’m feeling great, but I’m dead [tired],” an exhausted Kuykendall relayed after the marathon match inside a quite warm Billerica gymnasium. “That took so much out of us. You could tell how badly we wanted it at the end. Personally, I did not want to lose that game at all. It was the last game of the season no matter what, so you may as well go out giving everything you have. And everyone did.”

Kuykendall has been a starter since she first put on a Franklin uniform, growing from a promising underclassman into the program’s heartbeat. When the Panthers trailed 2-1 in the match, it was the senior who kept demanding the ball, kept taking the tough swings, and kept pulling her teammates back into the fight with words of wisdom and encouragement after each and every point.

“She wanted that one [before] really badly,” said first year Franklin head coach Chris Ridolfi. “Then she went and she made a really good shot up to win it for us. So, you know, I’m proud of her. She’s the kind of kid that just makes everybody better. And she’s willing to do whatever she has to do to make us better. So it’s great that she got the chance to have that last one.”

From the start of her career, Kuykendall has been a massive bright spot in the lineup. Not only has she been one of the best players the program has seen, her energy has been infectious. Whether it was a Tuesday evening in September, or the state championship game, Kuykendall has brought the energy for four years.

“Anytime there’s a good point or a bad point, she brings us together,” said sophomore Emerson Delleo, who started last year as a freshman like Kuykendall did in 2022. “When it’s tense, when we’re nervous, she helps us get through it and figure out how to get those points back.”

“She has so much energy. I look up to her so much and I love playing with her. She’s amazing.”

Statistically speaking, there haven’t been many in the program, or in the Hockomock League, that have contributed across the board. She finished her career with over 950 kills on over 2500 attempts, over 200 aces, over 1,000 digs, and nearly 300 sets played.

“I’m so fortunate to have this as my town volleyball team,” Kuykendall said. “You don’t have to go to a club to find a good team — we have so much talent in Franklin. Every year we bring in strong players. Even the eighth graders coming up, you can tell we’re going to have another good team. The Franklin volleyball program is just great, and I’m excited to see what comes next.”

Kuykendall smacked down a kill on the third point of the fifth set, and then had back-to-back kills, including a nice roll shot that dropped in, as Franklin’s lead jumped to 6-2. Delleo added a kill to put the Panthers ahead 8-4 at the switch.

As Newton North continued to push back, a kill off the block brought the Panthers within two at 13-11, but Kuykendall got a set and made no mistake with her swing, hitting the back corner to make it 14-11. The Tigers got one point back, but the final serve was received by junior Gianna Laurello, freshman Phoebe O’Connor put it up in the air to the outside, and Kuykendall flew through the air, drilling one to the floor one final time as a Panther.

“I didn’t want to lose,” Kuykendall said. “Every chance I saw to get a kill, I took it. Just swing until it doesn’t work anymore, and for me it worked. And Phoebe knows exactly where to put the ball. She makes it easy to just go up and kill it.

“I just wanted to end it. I was confident in myself that I could get that last one for us. You could hear me screaming, ‘Give me the ball!’ I wanted it so bad. Literally this has been on my mind all season. Since August, we’ve been saying state championship.”

Kuykendall also had five key kills in the fourth set, the one that kept the match going for the Panthers. She slammed a pair early, had two in a row midway through — one off the block, and another on a roll shot, and then when Franklin’s once-eight-point lead was cut in half, the senior rose up once again and delivered to keep Franklin a safe distance ahead.

“I feel like it’s just like the perfect way that it could have ended,” said Franklin senior and fellow captain Olivia Alberti. “Because like she came in here like as a freshman, starting outside. She did so good then and she’s just continued to be so good every year. So for her to close it out was just like the perfect way to end everything.

“She really kept us in it, making sure that we were pushing hard throughout the whole game. She wanted to make sure that we were there mentally because we knew that we could be there physically but you just have to have the right mindset.”

Kuykendall is taking her energy, skill, and championship pedigree to Bentley University next year.