Franklin & Marshall College

ARLINGTON, Va.- The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (5-3) earned a four-set win (25-12, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20) at Marymount (4-3) on Tuesday evening, earning the Mary Kate Salko '01 led coaching staff the win needed to become the winningest staff in Centennial Conference volleyball history.

With their 429th victory as a coaching staff, Mary Kate Salko '01 and Chris Salko have surpassed former Gettysburg volleyball coach Doreen Drexel-Powell for the most wins by a Centennial Conference coach. Drexel-Powell was head coach of the Bullets from 1984 through 1995. The current F&M coaching staff already holds the record for most wins in a Centennial Conference match (177) and in the Centennial Conference Tournament (16). 

Ceci Connolly led the attack with 16 kills and a .344 hitting percentage, while Melissa Benkowitz recorded 15 kills with a .261 hitting percentage and 14 digs. Chloe Wiedman set a new career high with 24 digs. Carly Campbell recorded 29 assists, a team-best five aces, and seven digs. Melody Butzer totaled 20 assists. Jillian Surkis hit a perfect 1.000 on five attack attempts. Claire Kelly swung .381 with nine kills, while Mia Mascherino totaled nine kills with eight digs. 

F&M opened set one with the first four points including three consecutive Campbell Aces. Marymount closed down the F&M advantage to one point at 6-5 before the Diplomats went on a decisive seven-point run with four-straight attack errors from the Saints. Leading 13-5 at this stage, F&M reached an 11-point advantage on a later 5-1 run with two kills from Surkis and closed out the set on a 5-2 run, clinching the game on another kill from Surkis.

The Diplomats again pulled out to an early advantage on a four-point run for a 5-2 lead. Leading 8-6, they went on to score eight of nine points on a run that included two kills from Surkis and two aces from Maile Lani Sugamura for a 16-7 advantage. They reached set point at 24-9, but the Saints fought off four set points before Grantham wrapped up the set with a kill. The set saw a game-best .414 hitting percentage for F&M and a match-low -0.042 hitting percentage for Marymount who registered just three kills. 

The Saints fought off a straight-set sweep by taking the third set by two points. Three early Connolly kills gave F&M a 5-2 lead that was soon pushed to 8-4 on a 3-1 run with two kills from Mascherino. The Saints drew level at ten-apiece with four unanswered points, but that was countered by three points from F&M. A 4-1 Saints run tied things up once again at 14-14. After trading serves once, F&M reclaimed the pace with a 5-2 run. A 5-0 Saints run gave them their first lead of the game, but this was again followed by a rally from the trailing team, as a 3-1 F&M run tied the set at 23-23. An F&M attack error and kill from Marymount got them to set point first at 25-23. 

F&M led 3-1 to start the fourth set, but Marymount followed with a 3-0 run for a 4-3 lead. This was followed by the teams trading two-point runs up to a 7-7 tie. F&M broke the deadlock with a 4-0 run, but this was countered by Marymount scoring four of five points to get back within one point at 12-11. The Diplomats built a modest 19-15 lead over the middle of the set. A 3-0 run of a Benkowitz kill, Grantham-Kelly block, and Kelly kill got F&M within three points of winning the match. The Diplomats were able to trade points the rest of the way, winning at 25-20 on a kill from Connolly. 

The Diplomats continue a four-match week with a short trip to Lancaster Bible on Friday, September 18, at 7 p.m.