Game Notes

Last Time Out

The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team is riding a five match winning streak into its home tournament, with four of those wins coming by sweep. The Diplomats are 6-1 overall on the year with five of their six victories coming in the minimum number of sets. Highlighting last week's action was a win against 2023 NCAA Tournament qualifier in the only match where the Diplomats dropped a set during their 3-1 victory. They also secured sweeps against York (Pa.), Emerson, and UMass Dartmouth throughout the past week. The Diplomats had a fantastic week hitting with Gianna Mangiamele leading the way. She is now second on the team with 64 kills and a .281 hitting percentage, while Coco Shultz has a team-high 72 kills during another strong showing from her.

Virginia Wesleyan Preview

Franklin & Marshall met Virginia Wesleyan for the first time in school history during the 2022 season, falling by a 3-0 score (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) as a part of Juniata's Asics Invitational. Six different players recorded multiple kills for the Diplomats, but F&M was plagued by an almost equal number of attack errors throughout the match. Sydney Levins led the way with eight kills, while Gianna Mangiamele added seven to the F&M side. Liah Perez (14 assists) and Hannah McCarthy (11 assists) split the setting duties. Meredith Mangum led the defensive effort with 15 digs as nine of the 11 players who entered the match came away with multiple digs. Lauren Arnold was another strong presence on defense as she recorded one solo block and two block assists.

Virginia Wesleyan is currently receiving votes in the national polls and is off to a 6-0 record. The Marlins were tested this past week before surviving a pair of five-set thrillers against Haverford and Messiah. F&M will see Haverford later in the year during Centennial Conference play, while the Diplomats do own a 3-0 sweep against Messiah on the young season. 

Clarkson Preview

The Diplomats opened the 2019 North Country Invitational with a 3-2 loss to Clarkson (25-27, 25-23, 14-25, 25-21, 16-18) during the 2019 season. That was a matchup in which both teams came into the contest receiving votes in the national polls.  F&M was within two points of Clarkson for the entirety of the first set. The Diplomats forced Clarkson to score 27 points in order to take the opening frame. In the second set, the Diplomats were up 24-21 before Clarkson recorded back-to-back kills and looked to force extra points, but F&M clinched the set with a kill by Delaney Hahn. Clarkson responded in the third. After being knotted up 8-8, the Golden Knights went on a 17-6 run to win the set. The Diplomats did not give in. F&M took a 23-17 lead in set four that started to narrow when Clarkson surged to bring the score to 23-21, but Grace Polisano and Hahn slammed back-to-back kills to seal the victory and force a fifth set. Finding itself down 11-8 in the fifth set, F&M went on a 7-3 run to go up 15-14. The Diplomats then went up 16-15 before Clarkson recorded three straight kills to take the set 18-16, and the match 3-2.

Clarkson enters the weekend at 2-4 on the season, earning a sweep of Whitman and most recently coming off of a 3-1 win against Oswego State. The Diplomats and Golden Knights have no common opponents on the season coming into the week. 

Montclair State Preview

F&M earned a 3-0 sweep of Montclair State when these teams first met during the 2023 season in New Jersey. They will be meeting in Lancaster for the first time when the Red Hawks come to campus. F&M took a 14-9 lead to begin the contest. Following a 5-1 run by Montclair, the Diplomats won six consecutive points to grow their lead to 21-14. A final kill from Sydney Levins gave F&M the first set, 25-21. The two teams went back-and-forth in the second frame, tied 18-18 late in the stanza. However, the Dips rallied to win the next seven points and take the set. F&M then finished the match in dominant fashion, ending the third set with a 25-8 win, which included 11 kills by Rei Baker. She totaled a career-high 12 kills in the game. Rei Baker combined for 16 kills on the afternoon, while Meredith Mangum tallied 36 digs between both tilts. 

Montclair State is 4-1 on the year and riding a three-match winning streak coming into the weekend. The Red Hawks have secured sweeps during each of their last three victories against FDU-Florham, Bard, and Cedar Crest. These two sides already have one common opponent on the year in UMass Dartmouth. UMass Dartmouth handed Montclair State its lone loss of the season, while the Diploamts' most recent victory was a 3-0 sweep in their favor against that same squad.

Centennial Conference Leaders from Franklin & Marshall (Top 10)

Hitting Percentage
7. Gianna Mangiamele (.281)
8. Avery Grantham (.280)

Assists/set
3. Liah Perez (5.25)

Blocks/set
6. Avery Grantham (0.79)

Kills/set
3. Coco Shultz (3.00)

Points
3. Coco Shultz (3.52)