LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team will certainly miss the six seniors from its Class of 2024 which led the team to the postseason during its each competitive seasons, including a trip to the conference finals in 2022. Nevertheless, the Diplomats have made 22 Centennial Conference Tournament appearances overall – highlighted by a Centennial Conference-best 15 consecutive postseason appearances – proving that they are more than capable of reloading on an annual basis. Franklin & Marshall went 19-7 last year (8-2 CC) for its most wins since the 2019 campaign and will be looking to reach even greater heights on the court with a team hungry for more success.
2024 Diplomats
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Gianna Mangiamele headlines the Diplomats' returners as a two-time honorable mention All-American entering her senior season. She is just the fourth player in program to accomplish that feat – joining Julie Harvey '14, Grace Maggiore '20, and Allison Franke '21 – and can become the first to receive All-America recognition three times this fall. Mangiamele ranked fourth in the conference with 279 kills last season, while still posting the seventh-best hitting percentage in the conference (.256). Mangiamele led the team with 304.5 points and the Diplomats will also return their second-leading point producer from a season ago in junior Coco Shultz. Shultz averaged nearly 2.6 kills per set last year and bolstered her contributions to the offense with 41 service aces. Shultz seemingly does a little of everything for the Diplomats as she registered eight double-doubles on her way also ranking second on the team with 282 digs.
Senior Rei Baker is another returnee who recorded a triple digit point total last year, killing 133 of her attack attempts while adding 30 blocks. She broke out offensively last year with a career-high 12 kills against both Montclair State and Messiah. Now in her second year as team captain, Justine Amory is another strong option across the net for the Diplomats. Named to the Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team last fall, Amory had her best performance against nationally-ranked NYU and will look to build on that momentum in her final season. Sophomores Melissa Benkowitz, Mya Anderson, and Paula Elguera displayed great talent and are poised for bigger roles this season. Anderson recorded just under a kill per set during her time on the court, while Benkowitz racked up 61 kills to go along with 59 digs despite missing the middle part of the season. Elguera appeared in seven matches during her rookie campaign, finishing with two kills and two aces.
A second-team All-Centennial Conference selection and honorable mention all-region performer, junior Liah Perez ranked sixth in the conference with 558 assists despite splitting time at the setter position in 2023. She also made her defensive impact felt with 214 digs on her way to nine double-doubles. Perez is already one of just 12 players in program history with over 1,000 assists – featuring a career-best 39 helpers during the Diplomats' win against Ursinus last fall. Sophomore Emily Dean appeared in 15 sets as a setter during her rookie season where she totaled 54 assists while adding five service aces.
On the defensive end of the court, F&M will have to replace 2022 Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Year Meredith Mangum who was recently announced as a conference nominee for the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year. The Diplomats have senior leadership to fill that void as Bella Ganfield had a career-high 109 digs last year, while classmate Mikayla Smith registered 133 digs during her rookie campaign. Maile Lani Sugamura is another option defensively for the Diplomats after playing in six matches a season ago while recording four digs and one service ace.
Incoming First-Years
With the graduation of talented senior class from the 2023 team. The Diplomats will look to fill some of those voids with a five-member first-year class. Ceci Connolly (Wilmington, Del.) and Jillian Surkis (Swarthmore, Pa.) will provide options for the offense, with Avery Grantham (Raleigh, N.C.) looking to make an impact as a middle blocker. Carly Campbell (Easton, Pa.) gives F&M another option at the setter position, with Chloe Wiedman (Westfield, N.J.) being another weapon that the team can utilize on defense.
The Road Ahead
The Diplomats' only defeats from a season ago came against teams who advanced to the NCAA Tournament as F&M finished third in the Centennial Conference standings and defeated Muhlenberg in its first playoff game before a semifinal setback. They have scheduled a similarly challenging slate for this upcoming season which gets underway at home on Friday, August 30 at 7 p.m. against Elizabethtown. The Diplomats will also take part in tournaments at Gettysburg, Babson, and Juniata, while hosting a tournament of their own against Virginia Wesleyan, Clarkson, and Montclair State. The Centennial Conference schedule gets underway at Muhlenberg on September 28 and closes for the regular season with a Senior Day showdown against defending conference champion Johns Hopkins. The Centennial Conference Tournament will once again see six teams competing for the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The conference tournament gets underway with first round matches at campus host sites on Wednesday, November 13.
Preseason Poll
Despite the loss of six seniors, coaches around the Centennial Conference are still expecting another strong season from the Diplomats who were picked second on the conference's preseason voting of the conference's head coaches. Defending champion Johns Hopkins was the pick to repeat, but the Diplomats earned 84 voting points in the poll to edge out both Gettysburg and Swarthmore who finished a third-place tie at 81 points. Haverford and Muhlenberg were predicted for postseason finishes as the respective fifth and sixth place teams in the voting. The complete Centennial Conference preseason poll is available here.
Career Record Book Watch (active players in career top 20 all-time)
Gianna Mangiamele
- Kills per set: 13th (2.70)
- Attack pct.: 14th (.266)
- Points per set: 19th (2.98)
Liah Perez
- Serve pct.: 4th (.909)
- Service aces per set: 9th (0.48)
- Assists per set: 10th (5.55)
- Assists: 12th (1,033)
- Service attempts: 12th (728)
Coco Shultz
- Reception Pct: 1st (.937)
- Serve pct.: 14th (.887)
- Kills per set: 16th (2.49)
- Service aces per set: 16th (0.42)
- Service attempts: 16th (670)
- Points per set: 18th (3.03)
Mikayla Smith
- Reception Pct: 3rd (.921)
- Serve pct.: 16th (.871)
- Service attempts: 18th (489)
