ST. MARYS, MD - Outside hitter Margot Phelan (Fr., Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) recorded 36 kills in six games on day two to be named to the All-Tournament Team as the Diplomats swept Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham and Susquehanna University to win the St. Mary's College (MD) Seahawks Invitational.

Following victories over Baruch (30-14, 30-19, 30-28) and St. Marys (30-27, 30-32, 30-18, 31-29) on day one of the tournament, the Diplomats rolled over FDU-Florham 3-0 (30-20, 30-19, 30-26) in the first match of day two as Phelan recorded 14 kills, one service ace and eight digs.

Setter Jackie Skibbie (Sr., Darby, PA/ Merion Mercy) recorded 31 assists, four digs, a solo block and a block assist, libero Meghan Godorov (Sr., Orefield, PA/Parkland) added 28 digs and a service ace, while middle hitter Susan Taylor (So., The Woodlands, TX/ John Cooper) chipped in 11 kills, a solo block and a block assist as the Diplomats defeated the Blue Devils in the first ever meeting between the two schools in volleyball.

In a clash of the only undefeated teams in the tournament as F&M and Susquehanna entered their match 3-0 records, Franklin & Marshall knocked off the Crusaders 3-0 (30-22, 30-16, 31-29) as Phelan had 22 kills, 14 digs and a block assist.

Skibbie tacked on 49 assists, six digs and a service ace and Taylor notched 14 kills, a solo block and a block assist as the Diplomats improved to 17-8 all-time against Susquehanna, including six straight wins since the Crusaders last win in 1995.

Godorov added 19 digs and a service ace and outside hitter Nicole Kushman (Jr., Chalfont, PA/ Central Bucks West) recorded eight kills, a service ace and 15 digs as the Diplomats improve to 19-8 on the season.

Franklin & Marshall (19-8, 8-2 Centennial Conference), which secured the #4 seed in the Centennial Conference (CC) playoffs due to Haverford defeating Dickinson, will continue the season on November 2 at home versus #5 seed Swarthmore College in a first round CC playoff game at the Mayser Center. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.

The Diplomats dropped to the #4 seed due to the fact that Gettysburg College and Haverford College tied with Franklin & Marshall for the #2 seed. As a head-to-head comparison could not be used as Haverford defeated F&M and fell to Gettysburg, while F&M defeated Gettysburg but fell to Haverford, per Centennial Conference tie-breakers, Gettysburg secured the #2 seed due to the fact that the Bullets were the only one of the three tied teams to defeat #1 seed Johns Hopkins University during the regular season. Further, as the tie was broken from among three teams, the tiebreaker between F&M and Haverford reverts back to head-to-head action, giving Haverford the third seed and F&M the fourth seed.

More information on the Centennial Conference Volleyball Playoffs is available online at http://www.centennial.org/championships/volleyball


St. Mary's Invitational Final Records
Franklin & Marshall 4-0
Susquehanna 3-1
FDU-Florham 2-2
St. Mary's (MD) 2-2
Baruch 1-3
SUNY-Old Westbury 0-4

All-Tournament Team
Fior Ulloa (MVP) Baruch
Megan Redd FDU-Florham
Margot Phelan Franklin & Marshall
Whitney Alexander Old Westbury
Rebecca Tursell St. Mary's (MD)
Missy Kadingo Susquehanna