LANCASTER, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (18-6, 10-0 Centennial Conference) opened the 2026 Centennial Conference Tournament with a four-set win (25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19) hosting fourth-seeded Haverford (17-8, 7-3 Centennial Conference) in the semifinal round.
The win sends F&M to the program's 13th tournament championship, and it marks consecutive appearances in the final for the first time since back-to-back qualifications in 2005 and 2006.
Numerous career-bests were set individually by the Diplomats including a personal-best 24-kill performance from
Ceci Connolly with a .385 hitting percentage. 24 kills ties her for the seventh-most in a four-set match in program history.
Melissa Benkowitz recorded a new career-high of 25 digs while contributing 12 kills.
Carly Campbell set a new career-high of 18 digs and lead the team with 28 assists.
Mia Mascherino matched her career-best with 18 digs, while she had 12 kills and a solo block.
Avery Grantham hit .421 with eight kills, while
Mya Anderson swung .333 with four kills.
Claire Kelly split three blocks with Connolly.
The Fords opened the match with a 5-0 run, and they maintained that lead by trading serves up to 13-8. They then scored six of eight points on a run with four errors from F&M to push their lead to 18-10. A service error began a 4-0 run for F&M with kills from Kelly, Mascherino, and Benkowitz that cut the lead to four. Haverford scored three points from three errors, but F&M scored a couple of points to keep the gap at 22-16. F&M went on to close out the opening set with eight unanswered points on a run where Kelly and Connolly combined for three blocks.
F&M kept attack errors to just two while hitting .362 in the second game. Haverford earned an early lead at 4-3 to open the set when F&M countered with a 4-0 run with a pair of kills from Grantham. F&M traded serves before extending their lead on a 6-2 run with three kills from Connolly. The teams traded points up to a 16-11 scoreline when F&M scored six-straight points including a pair of aces from
Abby Silinski for a lead of 22-11. F&M won the set on a kill from Connolly at 25-16.
F&M began set three with three points and they maintained a modest lead up to 6-4. Haverford earned control of the game that they ultimately would not surrender on a four-point run with three kills and an ace. F&M tied the set on back-to-back points, but their opponents scored four of the next five points to lead, 12-9. F&M was able to tie the game again with a 4-1 run, but the Fords maintained the pattern with another 4-1 run to hold a 17-14 lead. The Diplomats tied the set again on three-straight points, but the Fords earned the lead for good on a four-point run with three kills. F&M could get no closer than two points the rest of the way, as Haverford forced a fourth set on a 25-22 third game.
F&M efficiently built an eight-point lead in set four on an 8-1 run where Benkowitz posted four kills and Connolly had three kills. The Fords scored four straight, F&M stopped the run with three-straight points to lead, 11-5. F&M traded points in the middle of the set but extended their lead to nine points on a 4-1 run with three kills from Connolly, putting them just six points from winning the match at 19-10. Haverford closed the gap to 23-18 on a 8-4 run with six errors from F&M. The Diplomats next reached match point on a kill followed by one Fords kill before another kill from Connolly secured F&M's championship spot.
The Diplomats will play for the program's seventh Centennial Conference title, and the first since 2014, when they face second-seeded Swarthmore in a rematch of their five-set thriller to conclude the regular season on Sunday, November 15, at 1 p.m. A preview of the match will be released on Saturday.
