LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College middle blocker Liz Earll (Sr., New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) finished with 16 kills, one solo block, five block assists and three service aces as the Diplomats managed Muhlenberg College 3-1 (30-20, 26-30, 30-17, 30-15) to clinch the #2 seed in the Centennial Conference volleyball playoffs.

F&M, which will face #3 Johns Hopkins University on November 6 in the semifinals at #1 seed Gettysburg College, used runs in games one, three and four to take care of the Mules.

In game one, the Diplomats pulled away to a 4-0 lead and never looked back as Muhlenberg pulled to within 4-2 and 10-8 before F&M rattled off a 4-0 run to pull ahead by six. The Mules failed to respond as Franklin & Marshall built a 25-17 lead to record a 30-20 victory.

In game two, both teams held leads as F&M went ahead 19-16 before the Mules responded to knot the match at 21-21. The teams traded points for ties at 22-22 and 23-23 before Muhlenberg pulled in front 25-23. Franklin & Marshall countered behind a back-to-back points, including a kill by Earll to go in front 26-25, but Muhlenberg scored the next five points for a 30-26 win to knot the match at one game a piece.

The loss inspired F&M as the Diplomats battled back from a 10-10 tie in the third game to take a 19-12 lead. The seven-point margin quickly grew after Muhlenberg added a pair of points to close to within five points at 19-14 as F&M countered with four straight points to hold a 23-14 margin. Again the Mules fired back scoring a point to close to within 23-15, but F&M scored the next three points to take a 26-15 lead and hold on for the 30-17 win.

In game four, the Diplomats built an early lead and coasted to the 30-15 to record their 19th win of the season and move to within one victory of recording the 14th 20-win season in the 32 year history of varsity volleyball at Franklin & Marshall College (1979, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).

Overall, setter Jackie Skibbie (Jr., Darby, PA/Merion Mercy) finished with 40 assists, four kills, one service aces and 10 digs to key the Diplomats' offense, while middle hitter Susan Taylor (Fr., The Woodlands, TX/John Cooper) added nine kills, two solo blocks and six block assists.

Outside hitter Rebecca Zeigler (Jr., Manchester, PA/Northeastern) tacked on 17 digs and two service aces to compliment 21 digs by libero Meghan Godorov (Jr., Orefield, PA/Parkland).

The key to the match for F&M was blocking as the Diplomats recorded a season high four solo blocks and 18 block assists as the squad erased the previous four game match record of 15 blocks established on October 10, 2001 in a 3-1 (24-30, 30-18, 30-21, 30-26) victory at Muhlenberg,

This year's victory raises F&M's record to 13-2 all-time against Muhlenberg as the win avenges a 3-2 loss to the Mules last year.

Franklin & Marshall (19-9, 8-1 Centennial Conference) will continue the season in Chestertown, Maryland at Washington College in the regular season finale on October 28. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.

Muhlenberg (10-14, 4-5 CC) 20-30-17-15
Franklin & Marshall (19-9, 8-1 CC) 30-26-30-30