COLLEGEVILLE, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (14-6, 7-0 Centennial Conference) claimed their seventh straight-set sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-12) of 2026 at Ursinus (5-15, 0-7 Centennial Conference) on Wednesday night.
Ceci Connolly led the attack with ten kills on a .533 hitting percentage.
Avery Grantham hit .800 with four kills from her five attempts.
Mia Mascherino swung .462 with seven kills and six digs.
Melissa Benkowitz led F&M with four service aces and ten digs while contributing six kills.
Carly Campbell recorded 19 assists and seven digs.
F&M swiftly earned an 8-4 lead during an early run with four attack errors from the Bears. F&M held a modest lead until Ursinus drew level at 11-11 thanks to a three-point run. The sides traded serves up to 13-13 when Grantham began a 5-1 run of scoring to give the guests a four-point lead. Ursinus fought back again with a set-tying 5-1 rally of their own. Benkowitz reclaimed the lead with a kill, but the Bears claimed four of the next five points via two attack errors and two service errors for a 23-21 advantage. F&M eliminated the threat of a set-one loss with a game-winning 4-0 run with a kill and ace from Benkowitz plus a set-point kill from
Lina Thompson.
The Diplomats opened the second set by scoring the first four points on a run with two kills from Mascherino. Ursinus scored the next three points followed by back-to-back points from the Diplomats. Ursinus got two points back on a pair of blocks to keep F&M's early lead at 6-5. The sides traded points up to a 10-10 tie when F&M scored six of seven points to lead, 16-11. F&M maintained this lead, entering the late stages with a 21-17 advantage. F&M scored the next three points to reach set point. Ursinus survived one set point before an attack error gave F&M a two-game advantage.
F&M opened set three with a 6-2 run with points from four different players including a solo block from
Mya Anderson. Ursinus claimed the next two points before F&M pulled away on a 6-1 run where Benkowitz tallied two of her four aces. Leading 12-5 at this point, F&M continued to sprint towards match point, scoring five of the next six points to reach a double-digit lead on a run where Mascherino and Connolly each recorded two kills. F&M lead 23-10 entering the late stages of the set. Ursinus scored the next two points on attack errors before Thompson ended the match on a kill followed by a match-point ace.
The Diplomats face Dickinson for their final road game of the season on Saturday, October 31, at 1 p.m.
