Game Notes

The (RV) Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (23-6, 8-2 CC) earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018 via an at-large bid. They'll travel to Marietta, Ohio for the regional rounds, beginning play against (RV) Illinois Wesleyan (22-9, 8-0 CCIW) in the First Round on Thursday November 21, at 4:30 p.m. The winner of that game will face the winner of No. 9 Marietta (23-1, 9-0 OAC) vs. St. John Fisher (21-8, 9-2 Empire 8) on Friday, November 22, at 7:00 p.m. The regional final will occur on Saturday, November 23, at 7:00 p.m.

NCAA Tournament Marietta, Ohio Regional Schedule

Thursday, November 21 - NCAA Tournament First Round

Match #1 - No. 7 Wisconsin Oshkosh vs. Marymount (Va.) - 11:30 a.m.

Match #2 - No. 10 Chicago vs. (RV) Centre - 2:00 p.m.

Match #3 - (RV) Franklin & Marshall vs. (RV) Illinois Wesleyan - 4:30 p.m.

Match #4 - No. 9 Marietta (Hosts) vs. St. John Fisher - 7:00 p.m.

Friday, November 22 - NCAA Tournament Second Round (Regional Semifinal)

Match #5 - Winner of Match #1 vs. Winner of Match #2 - 4:30 p.m.

Match #6 - Winner of Match #3 vs. Winner of Match #4 - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 23 - NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 (Regional Final)

Match #7 - Winner of Match #5 vs. Winner of Match #6 - 7:00 p.m.

Ticket Information

Tickets for the Marietta, Ohio Regional will only be available for purchase online here. The ticket manager is Mike Oblisk and may be reached at 740-376-4666 or via email at mao002@marietta.edu. Children under age two are admitted free.

Single-Session (Single-Match) Tickets

• Adult: $10

• Senior Citizen: $8

• Student: $8

• Children (ages 3-12 yrs): $5

• Children under 2 yrs : Free
  
  

All-Session (Good for all matches on one day) Tickets

• Adult: $20

• Senior Citizen: $12

• Student: $12

• Children (ages 3-12 yrs): $8

• Children under 2 yrs : Free
  
  

Last Week

Franklin & Marshall made its way to the program's third straight Centennial Conference Tournament Semifinal. To get there, the third-seed Diplomats beat sixth seed Ursinus (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) in three sets on Friday before coming just short of a reverse sweep in a five-set loss to second-seed Swarthmore (16-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 10-15) on Friday night.

The sweep of Ursinus saw Ceci Connolly lead the Diplomats' attack with 12 kills, while Coco Shultz hit .292 with ten kills. Liah Perez collected 21 assists, while Carly Campbell assisted 15 kills. Perez and Bella Ganfield each totaled nine digs, while Emily Dean equaled a career-high with five aces. F&M led from the early stages of set one and led 11-8 before taking five of six points to pull away. They reached set point at 24-15 before Connolly secured the set on a kill at 25-17. Set two again saw F&M claim an early lead of 9-4. Ursinus stormed back to an 11-10 advantage on a four-point run before taking three of four points to force a Diplomats timeout. F&M returned by tying things up at 15-15. The teams traded points until F&M took three-straight points to lead 23-20. Ursinus took two points before Anderson and Shultz kills wrapped up the set. Ursinus started with an 8-5 lead in set three, followed by a five-point run for F&M to take the lead 10-8. Ursinus tied the set at 12-12, but F&M took five straight points and held a modest advantage to the end of set three.

Shultz hit 21 kills with a .304 hitting percentage in the loss to Swarthmore along with a team-highs of 13 digs and four aces. Perez totaled 30 assists, and Campbell had 20. Mya Anderson and Gianna Mangiamele each totaled two solo blocks and four block assists. A 5-0 run for the Garnet put them ahead 7-3 in set one, and they soon pushed to 15-8. F&M got within five points on three occasions but could get no closer in the first. Set two saw Swarthmore again lead early until F&M tied things at 7-7. F&M fell behind 12-9 but again erased the deficit on three-straight points. The teams traded serves to 15-15 before Swarthmore strung together a 3-0 run. They continued to pull away comfortably to take set two 25-16. The Diplomats were down 14-9 when they pulled back within a point on four-straight points. The Garnet pushed to a 22-18 lead when F&M used a timeout. The Diplomats rallied by taking four of five points to force a Swarthmore timeout. They took the next three points to stay alive. F&M led by 6-1 to start in set four, a lead that soon jumped to 17-10 when Swarthmore called a timeout. A 6-0 run for the Garnet put them back in striking distance soon enough, as they later went ahead 22-19 on a four-point run. The Diplomats responded with four-straight points of their own. At 23-23, back-to-back Connolly kills sent the match to the fifth set. Swarthmore reached halfway point leading 8-5 as the teams switched sides in set five. F&M took three of five points to stay close, down 10-8. They got within a point at 11-10, but Swarthmore took the final four points to advance to the Centennial Final.

The Diplomats placed four on the All-Centennial teams that were announced this Tuesday; Gianna Mangiamele and Liah Perez earned First Team selections, while Coco Shultz and Avery Grantham earned Honorable Mention selections. 

Illinois Wesleyan Preview

With their first CCIW Conference Championship since 2021, Illinois Wesleyan booked an NCAA Tournament slot for the eighth time in tournament history following a five-set win over No. 10 Millikin (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 10-25, 15-13) in the CCIW Tournament Final. 

To get to the conference final, the Titans swept North Central (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) in Thursday's CCIW Tournament Semifinal. Taylor French hit .257 with 13 kills and a team-best 16 digs, while Alex Bardouniotis added 11 kills. Hannah Tellor swung .400 with nine kills, while Cailin Shannon hit .313 with eight kills. Eleanor Palmer totaled seven kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Sophia Feeney totaled 31 assists.

Tellor was efficient and effective in attack against No. 10 Millikin, hitting .382 with 17 kills. French had four aces and 15 kills, while Alex Bardouniotis had 12 kills and 15 digs. Kannyn Boyd led the team with 21 digs, while Eleanor Palmer had seven block assists. The Titans pulled ahead 17-12 in set one with Millikin battling back within a point at 21-20 to force a Titans timeout. Illinois came back from the break to take the set 26-24, securing the set on a kill from Bardouniotis. After falling in a tight set two (23-25), the Titans claimed set three after falling behind 8-1 early. Later on, a 7-1 run got them to set point at 25-23. Millikin dominated in set four to set the stage for a thrilling finale. The Titans lead 4-2 to start, but Millikin tied things up at five each. Illinois Wesleyan reached the midway point ahead 8-7 as the teams switched sides of the court. Millikin took two points followed by a kill from Bardouniotis to tie the set at 9-9. Millikin led 12-11 when a French kill and Shannon-Tellor block put the Titans up 13-12, soon reaching match-point 14-13. An attack error for Millikin ended the match. 

Taylor French leads the conference in aces per set (0.70), which is 26th across DIII. She ranks second in kills per set (4.01), which stands at 30th across DIII. Hannah Tellor holds the CCIW's third-best hitting percentage (.332), while Kannyn Boyd is third in digs per set (4.88). Eleanor Palmer is sixth in blocks per set (0.78). 

F&M Team Ranks in NCAA Top 50

• Aces/Set - 39th (2.72)

• Assists/Set - 21st (12.33)

• Hitting Percentage - 18th (.240)

• Kills/Set - 26th (13.26)

• Winning Percentage - T30th (.793)

F&M Individuals in Centennial Conference Top 10

Hitting Percentage
6. Avery Grantham (.327)
T7. Gianna Mangiamele (.303)

Kills/Set
6. Gianna Mangiamele (2.98)
10. Coco Shultz (2.83)

Assists/Set
2. Liah Perez (6.32)

Service Aces/Set
7. Liah Perez (0.52)

Blocks/Set
7. Avery Grantham (0.88)

Points/Set
7. Coco Shultz (3.38)
10. Gianna Mangiamele (3.33)