LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team is currently riding an eight-match winning streak after recording two more sweeps on Saturday to complete an undefeated weekend at the F&M Scramble. The Diplomats' nine wins on the season already feature seven sweeps after the latest victories against Clarkson and Montclair State.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, Ceci Connolly was named the Tournament MVP after a huge 15 kill output against Clarkson during the 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 victory. Gianna Mangiamele was additionally named to the all-tournament team after she registered 13 kills while hitting .542 against Clarkson before adding nine more kills during the 25-19, 25-17, 25-11 win versus Montclair State.
Franklin & Marshall 3, Clarkson 0
The Diplomats trailed just once all match against Clarkson and they were tied on just three other occasions. To start the day, three consecutive service aces, and four overall, during a 7-0 run from Melissa Benkowitz helped the Diplomats to a 7-0 advantage. That lead never got closer than 20-16 before F&M closed the opening set. Game two never witnessed the Diplomats trailing, but Clarkson hung around and had the score at 20-19 before the Diplomats won five of the final seven points, finished by a kill from Connolly.
The only time F&M found itself trailing in the opening match was after losing the first point, but the Diplomats would not trail again after going up 3-2. A strong service game from Liah Perez helped run off four straight points to set the score at 16-11 before the eventual 25-17 final.
In addition to double digit kills from Mangiamele and Connolly during the opening match, four other Diplomats had at least four kills. Carly Campbell led the team in assists with 20, while Perez was just behind her with 19 helpers. Mikayla Smith contributed a team-high 18 digs to pace four F&M players in double figures, including Perez who finished with a double-double behind her 12 digs.
Franklin & Marshall 3, Montclair State 0
The opening set of the final tournament match was certainly one of the most competitive for the Diplomats as it featured six ties. However, the last of those deadlocked scores came at 10-all. The Red Hawks were down just a single point, 19-18, late in the set before a balanced attack saw four different Diplomats contribute kills during the 25-19 final. F&M faced its most adversity during the second game as it was trailing 12-7 before Avery Grantham got a kill and then ran off nine consecutive points at the service line to take a 12-6 deficit and flip that into a 16-13 lead.
That momentum from Grantham's service game kept going throughout the remainder of the match as the Diplomats secured nine of the final 13 points to close the 25-17 set victory on a 19-5 run. Leading 6-3 in the third, F&M took advantage of the match for good when Campbell's service game got her team out to an 11-4 advantage. The lead eventually grew to 20-7 behind strong services from Shultz, Maile Sugamura, and Paula Elguera in the 25-11 final.
Benkowitz led the Diplomats with 11 kills while hitting .400 during the final match of the weekend. Her offensive production was backed up by a double-double as she added a team-best 10 kills. Shultz and Grantham each added six more kills to the win as the Diplomats hit over .300 as a team during both of their victories on Saturday. Campbell and Perez both led the setting efforts with 18 and 16 assists, respectively.
Volleyball now has a full week before returning to action during a tri-match at No. 1 Juniata next Saturday, September 21. Before the Diplomats battle the top-ranked team in the country at 5 p.m., they will face Muskingam in a match that is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. first serve.
