Haverford, Pa.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (19-3, 7-0 CC) kept its perfect Centennial record intact and earned the program's 15th straight-set win of the season with Saturday's sweep over Haverford (25-20, 25-17, 25-22).
Gianna Mangiamele hit a career-best (minimum 15 attacks) .722 with 14 kills, leading the offense on a day where they combined to hit .305.
Liah Perez and
Carly Campbell evenly split time setting up the Diplomats' attack, with Perez totaling 21 assists and Campbell 18. Perez also led the team with four aces.
Melissa Benkowitz had a team-high 11 digs, while
Avery Grantham had three block assists, and seven kills with a .316 hitting percentage.
F&M pushed out to a 12-7 lead early in set one, with the gap slowly narrowing to a 19-17 lead late in the set. From there, the Diplomats took the next five points including kills from Mangiamele and Benkowitz along with three Fords attack errors. Haverford stayed alive at set point, taking three points before a
Mya Anderson kill secured the set.
F&M took seven of the first eight points in set two, including two Perez aces and two
Maile Lani Sugamura aces. The Diplomats nursed a lead of around half-a-dozen points up to an 18-11 scoreline when Haverford went on a 5-0 run to get within two points, forcing a Diplomats timeout. F&M returned to take the next four points via three Anderson kills. A Haverford kill broke the run for a moment, as F&M answered back with three straight kills to earn set two. F&M hit a match-best .448 in the set with just three attack errors.
The Fords broke ahead early in set three at 4-1, but F&M leveled the score at 5-5 and then 6-6. Haverford again found momentum by taking the next six points for a 12-6 lead. Following a F&M timeout, the Diplomats took six of the next eight points, including three Grantham kills, to get back within a point at 14-13. The teams then went on a run of trading points, with F&M primarily either tied or trailing by a point. With things square at 22-22, Perez set two Mangiamele kills before ending the match on a kill of her own.
The Diplomats host Swarthmore on Wednesday, October 30, at 7:00 pm.
