|
LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College volleyball team will open the season on August 30 at home in the F&M Scramble Tournament as the 2003 Diplomats' schedule was announced today. Following the Scramble, the Diplomats will face-off with local rival Elizabethtown College on September 4 in the Mayser Center before heading to the University of Scranton for a two-day tournament on September 12-13 and travelling down Route 30 to open Centennial Conference play versus Bryn Mawr College on September 16. The Diplomats will then return home to Mayser for the F&M Invitational on September 20 and a match versus Haverford (9/24), while tackling four road dates at the Juniata College Tournament (September 26-27), Lebanon Valley (October 2), Johns Hopkins (October 11) and Washington (October 18). F&M will then conclude the Centennial Conference regular season with home matches versus Dickinson (October 22), Muhlenberg and Ursinus (October 25) and Gettysburg (October 29) and a tri-match at Messiah College (November 1). Leading the way for F&M will be first year head coach Mary Kate Boland. A 1998-2000 American Volleyball Coaches Association All Mid-Atlantic Region player, she averaged 10.19 assists per game to lead the Diplomats to a school record 34-6 mark, a perfect 10-0 conference record, the Centennial Conference Tournament title and a "Sweet 16" finish in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament as a senior. Overall, she led F&M to the 1999 and 2000 Centennial Conference Championships and four consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearances while recording a 120-32 record from 1997-2000, the best four-year mark in program history. A 2000 and 1999 first and 1998 second team All-Centennial Conference setter, Boland is ranked among the top ten in program history in digs (fourth, 1433), service aces (third, 241), blocks (seventh, 159) and assists (first, 4062). In addition, she is ranked 11th in career kills with 703, as Boland was one of two players in program history to rank in the Top 10 in five statistical categories at graduation. Co-captain of the Diplomats in 2000, Boland holds school assists records for a game (23, vs. Roberts Wesleyan, 10/27/00), a season (1356 in 1998), a career (4062) a four game match (63, vs. Pomona Pitzer, 9/15/00) and a five game match (75, vs. Grove City, 10/3/98). Further, she holds the Centennial Conference record for career assists. The daughter of Villa Maria Academy head volleyball coach Joe Boland, she led Villa Maria to the 1996 PIAA District I and State Championships at setter to earn Daily Local News Player of the Year honors. In addition, Villa Maria earned three consecutive District I championships (1994-1996) as Boland was named to the PIAA All-State Volleyball Team in 1995 and 1996. Since 2001, she has served as an assistant coach at Villa Maria working with the setters and drafting scouting reports on opponents. In 2002, Villa Maria won the PIAA District I and State Championships. She takes over a Diplomats' program which finished the season with a 28-10 record while placing third at the F&M Scramble and the Messiah and Colorado College Tournaments, and first at the F&M and Scranton Invitationals. In Centennial Conference play, the Diplomats concluded the season 9-1 to finish second in the CC regular season standings, advance to the Conference title match and earn a bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoffs. Admission to all F&M home games is free and open to the public. 2003 F&M Volleyball Schedule
August
26 - Scrimmage vs. Dominican University
30 - F&M Scramble September
4 - Elizabethtown
12 & 13 - @ Scranton Tournament
16 - @ Bryn Mawr*
20 - F&M Invitational
26 & 27 - @ Juniata Tournament
24 - Haverford* October
2 - @ Lebanon Valley
11 - @ Hopkins vs. Hopkins* & McDaniel*
18 - @ Washington vs. Washington* & Swarthmore*
22 - Dickinson*
25 - Muhlenberg* & Ursinus*
29 - Gettysburg* November
1 - Tri-match @ Messiah * Centennial Conference
|
