Franklin & Marshall College

LANCASTER, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team (6-3) came back from a two-set deficit to earn a reverse sweep (22-25, 25-27, 25-18, 26-24, 15-7) at Lancaster Bible (1-5) on Friday evening.

Ceci Connolly led the attack with 20 kills on a .283 hitting percentage plus 15 digs and three block assists. Melissa Benkowitz and Abby Silinski led the side with 19 digs, while Mia Mascherino contributed across the court with a career-best 14 kills on a .293 hitting percentage,  a career-best 17 digs, two solo blocks, and two block assists. Carly Campbell set a three new career highs on 40 assists, five service aces, and 16 digs. Claire Kelly led the team with five block assists.

F&M struggled with an .057 hitting percentage with seven attack errors in their 25-22 opening set loss. F&M scored the opening two points in the game, while a 3-0 run with a kill from Connolly and ace from Kelly extended their early advantage to 6-2. F&M held a modest lead at 9-4 before the Chargers closed back in with a 7-1 rally in the other direction to take their first let of the set at 11-10. After trading serves a couple of times, Lancaster Bible scored three straight to force an F&M timeout at 15-12. F&M returned from the timeout with a kill from Campbell, but the Chargers followed that by scoring four of five points, inciting another Diplomats timeout with a 19-14 advantage. Trailing 22-17, F&M narrowed the gap with a three-point run to force a timeout from the hosts. LBC reached set point by claiming the next two points. Connolly fought off set points with kills before a service error gave the Chargers a win in the first set.

Following an opening kill from Kelly, the Chargers took the next four points on a run with two aces. They held the lead at 6-3 before the Diplomats tied the set with a 3-0 run. This set up a long run of the sides trading serves with Lancaster Bible primarily leading the way but never trailing up to a late 19-17 advantage. F&M took advantage of a 4-0 run with two set errors, one attack error, and a kill from Connolly to lead 21-19, marking the team's first lead since the opening point. The Chargers drew level with back-to-back points, and the sides traded serves up to a 23-23 deadlock. F&M used a timeout at this stage, and Connolly delivered a kill to reach set point first. A Diplomat service error tied the set again, but the Chargers gave F&M set point again on a service error of their own. Two-straight kills from LBC gave them a chance at claiming the set, and they followed that with an ace to earn the second game at 27-25. 

After starting set three in a 2-2 tie, F&M earned an early advantage on a 5-1 run with three errors from Lancaster Bible, an ace from Kelly, and a Mascherino-Mya Anderson block for a 7-3 lead. F&M was able to maintain this advantage up to 13-8 before facing some pressure from a 3-0 Lancaster Bible run, reducing the gap to two. F&M promptly canceled the run out with a three-point run of their own with a kill via Mascherino and an ace from Maile Sugamura. The Chargers returned from a called timeout by taking five of six points, cutting F&M's advantage to one point at 17-16. After trading services once, F&M went on a six-point run to reach set point with kills from Kelly, Connolly, and Benkowitz and an ace from Campbell. LBC survived one set point before Connolly forced a fourth set on a kill. 

A couple of Chargers kills to open set four set the stage for them to control the early phases of the set, as they maintained a small lead up to 7-4. F&M claimed five of the next six points, claiming their first lead of the game at 9-8 on a kill from Kelly. Lancaster Bible countered with a 5-1 run of their own to lead by three. The sides traded points up to a 16-13 scoreline when F&M used a 3-1 run to get back within one point at 17-16. Back-to-back points from LBC forced an F&M timeout. The Chargers maintained their momentum, returning from the pause with an ace and kill to stretch their lead to 21-16 to incite yet another timeout from the Diplomats. F&M returned from this break with a Connolly kill and a block from Connolly and Kelly. Following a point from the Chargers, F&M scored five points in a row on two kills from Connolly, one kill apiece from Benkowitz and Mascherino, and an ace from Lina Thompson, to lead again at 23-22. After using a second timeout of the run, LBC scored two-straight points to reach set point at 24-23. An Anderson kill tied the set, a block from Anderson and Campbell gave F&M at set point, and an ace from Sugamura sent the match to a fifth and deciding game. 

F&M began the fifth set with a 3-0 run that was quickly countered by four points from LBC. F&M reclaimed the lead with momentum-shifting 4-0 run with two aces from Benkowitz, a kill from Connolly, and a block from Kelly and Connolly. The Chargers again stormed back with another 3-0 run followed by F&M taking two of three points on a Benkowitz kill and solo block from Mascherino to lead 9-7. From there, F&M closed out the set on six-consecutive points on a run of a Connolly kill, Sugamura ace, an attack error, a block from Anderson and Mascherino, a kill from Mascherino, and a match-ending attack error.

The Diplomats are back in action with two matches at tomorrow's Montclair State Tri-Match. They'll face Whittier at 2:00 p.m. before concluding the day against hosts Montclair State at 4:00 p.m.