LANCASTER, Pa.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (23-5, 8-2 CC) opened the Centennial Conference Tournament with a sweep of Ursinus (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) in the First Round.
Avery Grantham hit an efficient .316 with nine kills, while Ceci Connolly led the team with 12 kills. Coco Shultz hit .292 with ten kills. Liah Perez provided 21 assists and Carly Campbell totaled 15 assists. Emily Dean matched her single-match career high with five aces. Bella Ganfield and Perez each had nine digs.
F&M took four straight points for a 4-1 lead early in the first set. F&M took four of the next six points, including three Grantham kills, for an 8-3 advantage. The teams traded serves, with Ursinus closing the gap to 11-8. F&M took five of six points with two points from Connolly kills to gain a seven-point lead. F&M reached set point at 24-15, but the Bears fought off elimination on a Diplomats service error and a Ursinus ace to force a F&M timeout. Connolly delivered a set-point kill at 25-17.
The Diplomats held an early 5-4 before pushing ahead 9-4 via a four-point run. Ursinus fired back by taking the next three points. A Connolly kill stopped the run for a moment, as the Bears took four straight points, including two kills and a block, to take the lead 11-10. They then took three of the next four points, and F&M used a timeout. The Diplomats regained momentum by taking four of five points, tying things up at 15-15. Ursinus took the next two points on a kill and block, while F&M swiftly retook the lead via kills from Grantham and Shultz with an ace for Dean. The teams traded points a few times before F&M took three-points straight on a Connolly Kill, Perez ace, and Connolly-Mya Anderson block to force a Ursinus timeout at 23-20. The Bears claimed the next two points before kills from Anderson and Shultz wrapped up the second.
Ursinus broke out to an 8-5 to get underway in the third set. F&M took five straight points, including two Perez aces, to regain the lead 10-8. Ursinus took 4 of 6 to tie things up at 12-12, but F&M yet again took five straight, this time with two Dean aces. The teams traded serves up to Ursinus using their second timeout at 23-17. Maile Lani Sugamura returned with a Diplomats ace, but Ursinus took the next three points, down 23-20. A Gianna Mangiamele kill put things at match point, and Ursinus fought it off one serve before a Shultz kill sent F&M to its third-straight Centennial Semifinal.
F&M will travel to second seed Swarthmore on Friday, November 15, at 7:00 p.m. in the Centennial Tournament Semifinal. The Diplomats will look to avenge a four-set loss to the Garnet in the regular season.
