LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (2-1) earned its first two wins of the 2022 season, defeating Eastern 3-2 and Lancaster Bible Saturday afternoon in the F&M-LBC Tournament.

F&M battled for five sets against Eastern and came out on top with a 15-10 victory in the fifth set. After Eastern won the fourth set by a score of 25-12, the Eagles continued their hot stretch and taking a 5-1 lead into the fifth. The Diplomats responded with a 6-2 run that was capped with back-to-back kills from Lauren Arnold to tie the set at 7-7.  Three kills from Justine Amory and three errors from Eastern put F&M up 13-10. The Diplomats put the match away on a kill from Makenna Penuel and a service ace from Liah Perez to claim their first win of the season.

Tied 4-4, the Diplomats started a 12-2 run to put F&M up 16-6 on top of Eastern in the first set. A kill from Gianna Mangiamele was followed by three service aces from Perez. Coco Shultz and Jada West also contributed kills during the run. With F&M leading 20-13 in the first, the Diplomats had three straights kills by Arnold, Mangiamele, and Amory. A service ace from Meredith Mangum and another kill from Mangiamele closed out the set to put F&M up 1-0 in the match.

After Eastern took the second set 25-12, F&M battled for control of the third and took a 10-7 lead. Shultz accounted for four of F&M's next six points in the set to give the Diplomats a 16-11 advantage. Errors from Eastern grew the Diplomat lead to 22-15. F&M would take the third set 25-17 to go up 2-1 in the match.

The Diplomats swept Lancaster Bible 3-0 in the second match Saturday afternoon.

F&M controlled the first set of the match, taking a commanding 20-6 lead. The Diplomats capitalized on Charger errors with kills from Mangiamele and Annmarie Earley to close out the first set 25-13.

Tied 13-13 in the second set, LBC and F&M traded points. A block from West and Penuel, followed by a Shultz kill highlighted the set for the Diplomats as they never let LBC break out to multi-score advantage in the set. The Diplomats outlasted the Chargers in the second set, winning 25-20.

LBC didn't back down in the third set as the Diplomats broke out to a 14-7 lead. Kills by Penuel and Shultz forced the Chargers to take a timeout. F&M had a 20-13 lead before LBC went on a 6-2 run, cutting the score to a three-point deficit. After an F&M timeout, two kills from Amory and a Charger error won the set 25-21.

Penuel tallied 14 kills on the day with nine coming against Eastern. Perez recorded 33 assists on the day, with a game-leading 17 assists against LBC. Arnold finished with three total solo blocks in Saturday's contests.

The Diplomats travel to face #22 Susquehanna Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.