MADISON, N.J.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (6-0) moved their season-opening winning streak to six with sweeps of Penn State Harrisburg (2-2) and Drew (1-3) on Saturday.

Match One (vs. Penn State Harrisburg)

In the first meeting against Penn State Harrisburg since 2010, the Diplomats earned a three-set win (25-20, 26-24, 25-16). Ceci Connolly posted a .565 hitting percentage on 13 kills with three block assists and three digs. Mya Anderson contributed seven kills with a .500 hitting percentage and four block assists, while Jillian Surkis delivered with seven kills, a .438 hitting percentage, and one block assist. Carly Campbell posted 22 assists with three aces and six digs. Liah Perez assisted 16 times with nine digs. Melissa Benkowitz led the team with 12 digs alongside nine kills. Chloe Wiedman had 11 digs, and Emily Dean recorded three aces.

Neither side led by more than one point up to a 9-9 scoreline in the first set. F&M began to build a gap with a 9-4 run over the middle of the set with kills coming from six separate Diplomats attackers during this stretch. The teams traded services before a 4-0 run with two Dean aces put F&M in control, 22-16. F&M held this lead until claiming the set on a service error at 25-20.

The Lions controlled the pace for the early stages of the second set, erasing an early 6-5 lead for F&M with a four-point run that guided them to a later 15-10 lead. F&M a few points away entering the end of the set, down 22-17. Three-straight points closed the gap to 22-20, but a Harrisburg kill ace brought the Lions to set point. Facing a set loss, the Diplomats claimed the next six points, including three kills from Connolly, to win the set at 26-24. 

A seven-point run with Coco Shultz at the service line gave F&M an early 7-1 lead, setting the foundations for a more efficient third set. The Diplomats used that early run to maintain a lead around half-a-dozen points through the middle of the set before extending their lead to 19-10 with a three-point run. F&M ended the set at 25-16 on a Campbell ace. The Diplomats hit a match-best .267 in the third set while keeping their opponents to a .000 hitting percentage. 

Match Two (vs. Drew)

The match against tri-match hosts Drew was the first in series history, and the Diplomats went on to efficiently dispatch the Rangers across three sets (25-12, 25-19, 25-16) where they hit .359. Benkowitz led the offense with nine kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Surkis had another strong match with eight kills and a .465 hitting percentage. Anderson swung .400 with seven kills while Shultz posted five kills with a .300 hitting percentage, six digs, and one ace. Avery Grantham's front-row defense earned her five block assists and one solo block. Dean posted a team-best eight digs and three assists. Perez led the team with four aces and 14 assists plus seven digs. 

F&M led 10-2 to begin set one on a run with two block assists and an ace from Grantham. The Diplomats consistently pushed their lead to 16-6 over the middle of the set. The teams traded services before F&M closed out the set on a 7-2 run that featured two aces from Perez. 

Both offenses were at their best in set two, as F&M hit .440 and the Rangers hit .233. Perez began the set at the service line with two aces in an opening 4-0 run. The Diplomats used that run to maintain an early lead before Drew got back within a point at 12-11 thanks to a 5-1 run. Tied at 13-13, the Diplomats bought space with a 6-2 run to lead 19-15. F&M continued to pull away, ending with a 6-3 stretch earning the second game on a Surkis kill at 25-19. 

F&M countered an opening kill with a four-point run that featured two aces from Dean. Drew countered with four points of their own to reclaim the lead, 5-4. That was the last time the Rangers would lead in the set, as F&M scored 11 of the next 13 points for a 15-7 lead. Over that stretch, Grantham registered a solo block and kill, while Shultz had one kill and an ace. The teams traded serves the rest of the way, as F&M earned their fifth sweep of the season on a Kendall Lee kill at 25-16. 

Up Next

The Diplomats have a midweek trip to DeSales slated for Wednesday, September 10, at 7:00 p.m.