ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team prevailed in a hard-fought five-set match at Muhlenberg to open Centennial Conference play on Saturday afternoon. Starting the conference slate with a rematch of last year's postseason victory in favor of the Diplomats, Franklin & Marshall (12-2, 1-0 CC) dug deep at several crucial points to earn the win against the Mules (5-7, 0-1 CC).
The Diplomats had three different players finish with double figure kill totals, led by Coco Shultz's 15 in addition to her team-leading 17 digs for a double-double. Ceci Connolly matched her with a team-best 16.5 points as she hit .281 for the match with 13 kills, while Maya Anderson added 10 more. Gianna Mangiamele and Avery Grantham were just behind their team leaders with nine and eight kills, respectively. Grantham also led the Diplomats with seven assisted blocks as Connolly added six more to the team's 11 rejections on the afternoon. Carly Campbell handled the majority of the setting duties and finished her day with a season-best 36 assists.
Franklin & Marshall held an 18-15 lead late during a back-and-forth opening set, but Muhlenberg got momentum back on its side by winning 10 of the final 11 points during that opening game. Game two saw the Diplomats step up to the challenge during the crucial moments as the Mules had a pair of game points for a chance to go up 2-0 only to see kills from Emily Dean and Connolly deny that effort. F&M ultimately ended up winning five of the final six points in the second set, capped by a combined block from Grantham and Connolly, to secure a 27-25 victory in extra points.
The two sides continued the back-and-forth match by trading the third and fourth games. A 25-20 third set put Franklin & Marshall's backs against the wall in the fourth, but again the Diplomats responded and came away with a 25-17 victory during what was the their widest margin of victory on the afternoon.
The decisive fifth game featured six ties – with the last coming at nine-all – before a kill from Grantham and huge service ace from Maile Lani Sugamura gave F&M a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the match. In another set where the final points were critical, the Diplomats claimed six of the final eight for the 15-11 victory in the ultimate tiebreak. Shultz put the finishing touches on the victory with a kill to earn herself a chance to serve for the match before delivering an ace on the clinching point. That service ace was the final of 10 such efforts on the day for F&M, with Melissa Benkowitz's four service aces highlighting those efforts.
Volleyball wraps up its stretch of six consecutive matches away from the Mayser Center this coming week as it travels to William Paterson for a 7 p.m. on Thursday before resuming Centennial Conference play at Washington College next Saturday at 1 p.m.
