LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team has sights set on earning back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2025 after booking the program’s first entry into the tournament since 2018. The 2024 team posted the best regular season percentage (.815) since 2013 en route to the team’s 16th-straight Centennial Conference Tournament appearance and third-straight appearance in the tournament’s semifinal round. While five seniors departed following last season’s 23-7, 8-2 Centennial Conference campaign, 12 returners, five first-year players and one transfer student-athlete complete a 2025 Diplomats team with depth across the court.

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2025 Diplomats

While three-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American Gianna Mangiamele is among three departing attackers (Rei Baker, Justine Amory), most of the Diplomat’s front row returns in 2025. Two Centennial Conference Honorable Mention players return in senior outside hitter Coco Shultz and sophomore middle blocker Avery Grantham. Shultz also earned AVCA DIII Player of the Week and Centennial Defensive Athlete of the Week honors one time each last year. Among Centennial Conference players, she ranked seventh in points/set (3.39) and tenth in kills/set (2.86) while averaging 2.77 digs/set and 0.44 aces/set. Grantham was a one-time Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the week, while she ranked sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.32) and seventh in blocks/set (0.85). 

Other middle blockers returning are Mya Anderson and Paula Elguera. Anderson was the only Diplomat to appear in all 102 sets last year, and she averaged 1.62 kills/set, 0.51 blocks/set and 2.11 points/set in that time. Elguera had eight kills with a .571 hitting percentage in eight matches. 

Three other outside hitters return in junior Melissa Benkowitz and sophomores Ceci Connolly and Jillian Surkis. Benkowitz was a big defensive contributor, averaging 2.15 digs/set with 0.45 aces/set and 1.08 kills/set. Connolly averaged 2.33 kills/set, 2.67 points/set, 0.46 blocks/set, and 0.70 digs/set in her first collegiate season, while Surkis totaled 12 kills with a .310 hitting percentage in 13 matches. 

Four attackers are set to add depth to the 2025 Diplomats roster including middle blockers Abby Magness (South Side High School) and Claire Kelly (Ursuline Academy), outside hitter Kendall Lee (Old Mill High School), and right-side hitter Lina Thompson (The Dwight School).

The setting duo of Liah Perez and Carly Campbell return following a 2024 season where they contributed towards the 20th-best offense in DIII (.238 hitting percentage) with the 22nd-most assists/set (12.26). Perez earned AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention honors and a spot on the All-Centennial Conference first team. She ranked eighth in the conference in aces/set (0.52) while averaging 6.29 assists/set, and 2.32 digs/set) with 13 matches of 20-plus assists. Campbell’s rookie campaign saw her average 4.19 assists/set and 1.35 digs/set with seven matches of 20-plus assists. Junior transfer student-athlete Lily Harmon joins F&M following two years spent with 2024 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Colby.  

Bella Ganfield and Mikayla Smith’s departure means spots to be claimed in the Diplomats’ back row. Emily Dean played a key role from the service line in her sophomore year, averaging 0.46 services per set while chipping in 1.28 digs per set over 26 matches. Maile Lani Sugamura appeared in 20 matches in 2024, totaling 18 aces, 34 digs, and three assists, while Chloe Wiedman got reps in 19 matches, contributing 31 digs, ten assists, four aces, and three kills. Libero/Defensive Specialist Abby Silinski (Orange High School) joins F&M this fall as an additional option in the back row.

The Road Ahead

The 2025 Franklin & Marshall volleyball team has confirmed its 2025 schedule, as the team seeks back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and the program’s seventh Centennial Conference Championship. Mary Kate Salko 01’s 23rd season as head coach includes 11 home matches, 10 road contests, and five neutral-site opponents. 

The Diplomats’ 2025 schedule features plenty of challenges over the course of 26 matches, as this year’s slate features seven teams that also competed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, including two semifinalists and the reigning Division III Volleyball champions. F&M opens the year by facing Lancaster Bible, Randolph-Macon, and Susquehanna at the F&M Scramble on August 29 and August 30. F&M is on the road over the next week-and-a-half with trips to Albright (September 4), Drew (September 6), DeSales (September 10). The date at Drew is a tri-match also featuring Penn State Harrisburg. 

The Diplomats return to the Mayser Center for a tri-match on September 13, hosting national quarter-finalists Washington & Lee and Keystone. F&M heads to Gallaudet for a four-team tournament on September 19 and 20, where they will face tournament qualifiers (and hosts) Gallaudet, national semi-finalists Hope, Mary Washington, and Mount Union. F&M follows this high-intensity weekend by hosting three-time defending national champions Juniata on September 25. Their final opponent before beginning Centennial Conference matches is an away day at Elizabethtown (October 1), while they’ll conclude non-conference action on the final day of the regular season against Virginia Wesleyan on November 8.

The first Centennial Conference match sees the Diplomats host Haverford on October 4. After traveling to McDaniel on October 8, F&M will face fellow NCAA Tournament qualifiers Gettysburg (October 15) and Johns Hopkins (October 18) in back-to-back matches at home. The next week features away trips to Muhlenberg (October 22) and Washington College (October 25) before wrapping up the home slate with Ursinus (October 29) and Dickinson (November 1). The last week includes trips to Bryn Mawr (November 5) and a Centennial Conference Semifinal rematch at Swarthmore (November 8). 

The six-team Centennial Conference Tournament begins on November 12, with the championship match slated for November 16. The NCAA Tournament regional weekend  is set to occur November 20-22, while the Shirk Center Arena in Bloomington, Ill. will play host to the Elite 8 onwards from December 3-6.

The 2024 Diplomats returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, marking the team’s tenth overall appearance. To get there, they posted the program’s best regular season winning percentage since 2013 en route to the team’s 16th-straight Centennial Conference Tournament appearance and third-straight appearance in the tournament’s semifinal round. The team ended the year with a 23-7, 8-2 Centennial Conference record.

Preseason Poll

After claiming third place in the 2024 regular season standings, the Diplomats rank third with 83 points in the 2025 Centennial Conference Volleyball Preseason Poll. Defending Centennial Conference champions Johns Hopkins were picked in first place with 99 points and nine first-place votes, while Swarthmore is second with 87 points and two first-place votes. Gettysburg (77), Haverford (63), and Ursinus (51) complete the playoff spots, reflecting the spots they finished in the 2025 regular season standings. You can view the complete Centennial Conference Volleyball Preseason Poll here.

In the American Volleyball Coaches Association of America (AVCA) TARAFLEX Division III Women’s Volleyball Preseason Poll, the Diplomats received 16 votes. Johns Hopkins ranks fourth in DIII with 1,841 points and three first-place votes, while Gettysburg also received votes (56). You can view the complete AVCA/TARAFLEX Division III Women’s Volleyball Preseason Poll here.

Record Book Watch (active players in career top 20 in school history)

Mya Anderson

Melissa Benkowitz

Carly Campbell

Emily Dean

Avery Grantham

• Hitting %: 2nd (.320)

• Serve %: 18th (.868)

Liah Perez

• Service attempts: 3rd (1129)

• Serve %: 4th (.917)

• Service aces per set: 6th (0.50)

• Assists per set: 10th (5.80)

• Assists: 11th (1606)

Coco Shultz

• Reception %: 1st (.939)

• Service attempts: 6th (998)

• Serve %: 13th (.891)

• Kills per set: 15th (2.61)

• Service aces per set: 16th (0.42)

• Points per set: 17th (3.15)

• Attack attempts: 19th (2154)