SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Franklin & Marshall Volleyball team split its first two matches of the Trinity Fall Classic, defeating Whittier, 3-1, before a 3-1 loss to Trinity. 

MATCH 1 - WHITTIER

The two teams traded points throughout the opening set, with the score tied at 14-14. However, three straight points from the Diplomats gave F&M its largest lead of the frame at 17-14. The Poets later took a 21-20 lead after Riley DeGroot registered three kills. After Whittier grew its lead to 23-22, the Dips won the final three points to take a 1-0 edge. 

Following a 1-0 advantage for F&M to begin the second set, the Poets would not trail of the stanza. Leading 6-5, Whittier managed to gain separation by claiming four consecutive points. Though the Diplomats managed to cut the deficit to two, trailing 20-18, the Poets went on to win five of the last six points to level the set score, 1-1.

F&M started the third frame in front, 5-1, before Whittier came back to even the set, 6-6. With both sides going back-and-forth the rest of the way, the Poets took their first lead of the stanza, 20-19. The Diplomats quickly recovered, however, scoring six unanswered points to end the set. 

Ahead 2-1 in sets, F&M dominated the final frame, leading the entire way. With a 6-4 lead, the Diplomats scored four straight points to increase their advantage to 10-4. Later on, F&M used a 6-1 run to take its largest margin of the contest at 21-10. Melissa Benkowitz closed out the match with a kill and an ace on back-to-back points, as the Diplomats began the tournament with a win.  

MATCH 2 - TRINITY

F&M got off to a strong start against the 2022 national runner-ups, leading 6-2 early on in the first set. With the Tigers closing the gap to 11-10, the Diplomats won four of the next five points and forced Trinity to call a timeout. Out of the break, the Tigers rallied to take their lead first of the match at 19-18. The two team later drew even at 22-22 before F&M scored three of the last four points to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. 

After a 10-10 start to the second stanza, the Diplomats began to pull away, using an 8-3 run. The Tigers answered almost immediately, however, winning nine of the following 11 points. With F&M unable to close the deficit, Trinity claimed the second set, 25-22. 

Similar to the first frame, the Diplomats jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set. Once again though, the Tigers stormed back, using an 8-1 run to get in front. F&M managed to get even at 11-11, but were unable to re-take the lead as it would trail the rest of the stanza. A kill from Connelly McWilliams allowed Trinity to clinch the set and grow its advantage to 2-1. 

Following a 12-11 edge for the Diplomats to begin the final frame, Trinity took the lead for good using a a 6-1 run. The Tigers would later finish the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth set. 

Liah Perez tallied a career-high 32 assists against Whittier and totaled 61 on the afternoon. Meredith Mangum also set a career-best with 29 digs against Trinity and 45 overall. Gianna Mangiamele led F&M in kills with 28 between both matches. 

The Diplomats will close out the Trinity Fall Classic tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. against Pomona-Pitzer.