HAVERFORD, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall logged 53 kills over four sets and put together a .226 hitting percentage on Wednesday night to clinch a 3-1 win on the road at Haverford in Centennial Conference (CC) volleyball. The Diplomats improved to 10-5, 2-1 CC with the win, while the Fords fell to 6-8, 0-3 CC.

F&M used a killer instinct to nab the first set, winning the last four points of the frame to break a 21-21 tie and win 25-21. Three kills from Ellie Ezekiel and one from Cassie Garison helped Mary Leneweaver serve out the set. Ezekiel totaled seven kills in the set.

The second frame featured more back-and-forth action, with neither team leading by more than two until the scores tied at 22-22. However, a pair of aces from Haverford allowed the hosts to squeak out a win in the second, 25-23.

The third set saw a completely different trend as the Diplomats opened with a 3-0 run. The Fords responded with five straight points of their own, but F&M took total control by winning 11 of the next 12 points to take a sizable 14-6 lead. Haverford never got closer than seven as Christine Yoo and Grace Polisano tallied three kills in the 25-17 domination.

The Diplomats continued to assert themselves in the fourth, jumping out to a 7-1 lead on the back of Leneweaver's serve and two kills from Sarah Landry. The Fords cut the lead to one at 11-10, but a 5-0 run on the serve of Polisano put the set out of reach as F&M rolled to the 25-15 clincher. Ezekiel tallied five kills and Landry added four in the frame.

Ezekiel led the offense with 16 kills, followed by Polisano with 11. Garison totaled nine and Landry finished with eight as the Diplomats totaled 53. Allison Edelstein supplied the assist on 37 of those kills, and Landry tallied a career-high five aces in the victory.  

Leneweaver paced the defense with 18 digs, while Parys Zambas (12), Ezekiel (10), and Edelstein (10) also reached double figures. Ezekiel now has 996 career digs, putting her just four shy of becoming the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

The Diplomats return to the court on Saturday, hosting Bryn Mawr at 12:00 p.m.