Game Notes

The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (2-5) travels to Messiah (7-0) to play the Falcons at 11:00 a.m. and Houghton (2-3) at 1:00 p.m.

Last Week

F&M fell 3-1 to 19th-ranked Susquehanna to start the week. Sydney Levins had 12 kills while Gianna Mangiamele accounted for 10 kills. F&M as a team totaled 10 blocks in the match. Read the recap here.

F&M arrived in Juniata to compete in the Asics Invitational where it dropped the opener to Virginia Wesleyan. Six different Diplomats recorded multiple kills in the match. Meredith Mangum had 15 digs as nine F&M players recorded multiple digs. Read the recap here.

The Diplomats played two matches on Saturday where F&M lost to Ithaca 3-2 and fourth-ranked Juniata 3-0. Coco Shultz had 16 kills for the day. F&M had nine services aces as a team in both games combined. Read the recap here.

Last Time

The Diplomats last faced Messiah in the 2018 F&M Scramble. With each team winning a set, the Diplomats pulled away by taking the third set 25-9. F&M wrapped up the match by winning the fourth set 25-15. Franke '21 had 11 kills and six services aces. Maggiore '21 recorded a double-double with 34 assists and 14 digs. Read the recap here.

Saturdays match will be the first time in the history of the two programs that F&M and Houghton play each other.

Killin' It

Gianna Mangiamele and Coco Shultz lead the team in kills this season with 57, averaging 2.04 kills per set. Sydney Levins has 53 kills, but averages 2.65 kills this fall. In the loss against Lynchburg, the trio accounted for 46 of the team's 59 kills during the match. With 17 kills each, Levins and Shultz set a new career high for kills in a single match.

Block Party

With 31 total blocks so far this season, Jada West is tied for 26th in Division III in blocks per set, averaging 1.11. West was a wall in the game against Ithaca, where she tallied three solo blocks and four assisted blocks. She also displayed a strong defensive effort in the match against Susquehanna with one solo block and five assisted blocks.

Messiah Team Preview

The Falcons started the 2022 season by winning all seven matches they played so far. Messiah competed in the Gettysburg Tournament where it beat Penn State-Altoona 3-1, Gallaudet 3-0, Penn State-Mont Alto 3-1, and Catholic University of America 3-0. Outside hitter Mackenzie Feight leads the team with 84 kills. Emma Swartz leads in assists with 191. Maddy Eby has a team-high 88 digs. Chayney Barnhart leads Messiah in solo blocks (six) and assisted blocks (17).

Houghton Team Preview

The Highlanders started their season dropping the first three matches of the fall to Denison, Centre, and 23rd-ranked Ohio Northern. Houghton bounced back by sweeping the next two matches against Hilbert, and Alfred State. Julie Immel leads the Highlanders in kills with 35. Haley Unverdorben holds the team-high in assists with 110. As a team, Houghton has 43 service aces, averaging 2.9 per set.