Game Notes

The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (12-5, 4-1) will face Ursinus on the road on Wednesday before hosting Haverford for Senior Day on Saturday this week. Despite having its six-match winning streak broken, the Diplomats remain just one win back of first place in the conference while sitting in third. 

With seven contests remaining on the regular season schedule, F&M still has a pair of non-conference matchups left to play in Messiah and Shenandoah. The conference tournament is then set to begin on Wednesday, November 8 in which the Diplomats will hope to avenge their championship loss to Johns Hopkins in 2022. Multiple players on the team are also closing in on milestones, including Hannah McCarthy, who is 40 assists away from hitting 1,000 in her career. Additionally, Meredith Mangum needs 77 more digs to become just the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs. 

Last Week

Taking on Gettysburg and Muhlenberg at the Mayser Center last week, F&M dropped a 3-1 decision to the Bullets on Wednesday night before sweeping the Mules on Saturday afternoon. The loss to Gettysburg snapped a six-match winning streak, which dated back to September 16. 

In Wednesday's loss, the Diplomats led 14-7 in the first set before a 12-3 run by Bullets gave Gettysburg the lead for good. F&M trailed just once in the second frame, however, opening up the stanza with a 5-1 advantage. Though the Bullets later rallied to even the score at 21-21, the Diplomats hung on to a 25-23 win. In the third set, neither team led by more than four, with F&M being ahead for most of the way. However, trailing 23-22, Gettysburg forced a tiebreak, which it promptly won 26-24. The Bullets then ended the match with ease in the fourth frame, winning 25-12, powered by multiple 4-0 runs and a 5-0 run. 

In its second match of the week, F&M comprehensively defeated Muhlenberg in three sets. Down 2-0 to begin the first frame, the Diplomats took the lead with four straight points and later added on with a 5-0 run. The Mules failed to win more than two consecutive points for the rest of the stanza as F&M won 25-16. Muhlenberg began the second game with an 11-7 advantage, but it was quickly erased by a 6-1 Diplomat run. Tied 13-13, F&M pulled away with eight straight points and later won the set, 25-17. The Mules once again began with a sizable lead in the third stanza, up 16-9, but six points by F&M in the following seven rallies brought the gap down to two. Trailing 21-19, the Diplomats won the next four points and never looked back. A kill by Sydney Levins clinched the match, allowing F&M to bounce back from its earlier loss. 

Last Time vs. Ursinus

The Diplomats opened up conference play with a sweep of Ursinus in 2022. The Bears never reached above 15 points in any of the sets, with F&M leading by as much as 12 at one point. On 80 attacks, Ursinus was held to a .150 hitting percentage while the Diplomats hit .360 on 75 attacks, marking one of five times that F&M hit above .300 on the year. Gianna Mangiamele led the team with eight kills, while Liah Perez provided 20 assists and Meredith Mangum recorded 13 digs. 

Last Time vs. Haverford

In a matchup at the Mayser Center against the Fords, the Diplomats swept Haverford in three close sets. In total, the score was tied 21 times with 14 ties coming in the second game. In the first set, neither team led by more than three with the largest run being six consecutive points by the Fords. With the score even at 22-22, F&M ended the frame with three straight points. The second game remained back-and-forth throughout, but a 5-0 run by the Diplomats after trailing 18-17 put F&M ahead for good. With a 2-0 lead in sets, the Diplomats got out to an 8-3 advantage in the third stanza and later extended the gap to 20-9 following a 5-0 run. Trailing 24-14, Haverford staved off eight match points, but fell short of the comeback, as Gianna Mangiamele ended the contest with a kill.

Previewing Ursinus

After back-to-back losses last week, the Bears fell to 1-4 in the conference and 9-11 overall.  The team's lone win against a Centennial opponent came on Wednesday, October 4 in a five-set victory over Muhlenberg. Outside of conference play, Ursinus and F&M have not played a mutual opponent, although the Diplomats will take on Messiah later this season who the Bears fell to, 3-2.

On the season, Ursinus has allowed an opposing hitting percentage of over .200 on nine separate occasions, something the Diplomats have allowed just four times. Offensively, the Bears have been held to a hitting percentage of below .200 in seven straight tilts. The attack has been led by Caroline Sherman and Mel Eglinton, both of whom have surpassed 200 kills on the season. With her 290 kills, Sherman ranks first in the conference and 31st in the nation. Defensively, Emma Illovsky has posted 234 digs.    

Previewing Haverford

The Fords split their conference matchups last week, outlasting Washington College in five sets before getting swept by No. 9 Johns Hopkins. Despite the sweep, Haverford battled the Blue Jays hard, taking the first game to a tie-breaker and staying within five in the second. The Fords are now 2-2 in the conference and 7-11 overall. While Both Haverford and F&M have swept DeSales this season, the Fords fell to Elizabethtown in four sets, who the Diplomats swept. 

On the season, four different players have eclipsed 100 kills for Haverford, led by Claire Jordan with 153. As a team, however, the Fords have registered a hitting percentage of 0.155 which ranks ninth in the conference. On the defensive end, Juliet Young had tallied 350 digs, good for third in the conference.