HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team battled a pair of nationally recognized squads on Saturday to close its weekend at Juniata's Asics Invitational. The Diplomats forced a decisive five-set match against an Ithaca squad that is receiving votes in the national polls before falling in three to the No. 4-ranked Eagles.

Franklin & Marshall found itself down 2-0 against Ithaca to start the afternoon, but battled all the way until the final points and nearly completed the comeback. The Bombers were out to a huge lead during the first set and never looked back as they went up 1-0. The Diplomats showed their ability to compete with Ithaca during the second as they were leading 21-20, but lost the final five points of that game.

F&M certainly learned from that second set as the Diplomats were tied late in the third at 21-all. This time, the Diplomats finished off the set by scoring four of the final five points to force a fourth game. Just as in the previous two sets, the match was tight late as Ithaca held a 21-18 advantage. However, the Diplomats continued their strong play during the key moments as they scored five of the final six points to force the decisive game. In that fifth and final game, F&M trailed 10-4 but rallied to tie the match at 10-all. When the momentum seemed to be all on the Diplomats' side, Ithaca turned the tables with four consecutive kills and eventually took the final game by a 15-11 score.

Three Diplomats reached double figure kill totals with Coco Shultz's 13 leading the way versus Ithaca. Gianna Mangiamele and Sydney Levins finished with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Shultz finished with a double-double as she added 11 digs. She was one of three players with double figures in that category, with Meredith Mangum's 21 digs leading all F&M players. The Diplomats also had a strong presence at the net with 11 blocks. Jada West headlined those efforts with three solo blocks among her seven total blocks, while Lauren Arnold assisted on five more. Hannah McCarthy led the setters with 21 assists as Liah Perez dished out 16 more.

Closing out the weekend against national power Juniata, the Eagles rolled up 42 kills and hit .283 to lead them to victory with set scores of 25-11, 25-18, and 25-19. Six different Diplomats recorded multiple kills in the match, with Arnold and Levins each tallying a team-best five kills. West continued her strong play at the net with five block assists and Mangum had another double-digit dig performance with 15 digs.

The Diplomats closed the gap on Juniata throughout the afternoon and played the tightest set of the contest during the final game. F&M was trailing just 17-15 midway through that final set, but the Eagles ran off three straight points late to secure a 25-19 final in their advantage.

Franklin & Marshall will now have nearly a full week to prepare for its next match as the Diplomats return to action on Friday at Lebanon Valley. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Annville. The following day, the team will be at Messiah for a tri-match that also features Houghton.