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LANCASTER, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College, who will look to add a fifth Centennial Conference Championship, is picked to finish second in the Conference title race according to the head volleyball coaches in the Centennial Conference. The ranking marks a two spot improvement as the Diplomats were ranked fourth in the 2002 poll. Overall, the 2003 Diplomats will look to improve on last season's 28-10 record as the squad finished 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 before falling to Westminster College by a 3-2 final in the ECAC semifinals. Leading the team will be first year head coach Mary Boland, who will look to take the Diplomats back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. 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. She led Franklin & Marshall 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. Further, she holds the Centennial Conference record for career assists.
To compete for the CC title, the Diplomats will depend on the play of the team's current setter, Jackie Skibie (So., Darby, PA/Merion Mercy). In 2002, Skibbie led the Conference in assists (1,268) and assists per game (11.42) as she was one of two freshmen named to the All-Conference team. Further, tri-captains Lynn Achenbach (Sr., York, PA/Central York), Maureen Lafferty (Sr., Collegeville, PA/Villa Maria Academy) and Jen Grue (Sr., Canton, PA/Canton) will also factor in the Diplomats' success. An outside hitter, Lafferty led the team in digs last season with 480 while registering 29 kills, 23 assists, 11 service aces and three blocks to raise her career numbers to 1,235 digs, 136 kills, 51 assists, 104 service aces and seven blocks. Overall, Lafferty's team leading performance in digs last season marked the second time in as many years that she finished among the top four Diplomats in the statistical category as she registered 755 in 2001 to finish fourth on the team. A middle blocker/outside hitter, Achenbach tallied 122 kills, 29 service aces, 29 assists, 45 digs and 22 blocks as a junior. Overall, she now has 173 kills, 39 aces, 31 assists, 88 digs and 53 blocks for her career. A setter/opposite side hitter, Grue tallied 43 kills, 200 assists, 14 service aces and 244 digs in 115 games last season. For her career, she now has 145 kills, 1,614 assists, 41 service aces and 674 digs in 251 games. Gettysburg, which has won eight CC titles, will seek to capture their fourth straight championship as the coaches' preseason favorite in the poll. The Bullets received eight out of a possible 11 first-place votes (teams not permitted to vote for themselves) for 98 points following a 2002 season in which the team finished 24-14 overall and 9-1 in the Conference. The Diplomats, who received 81 votes, edged out third place Haverford with 79 points and one first-place vote, while Johns Hopkins was fourth with 76 points. Fifth place went to Muhlenberg, which totaled 70 points and garnered one first place vote in the poll.
McDaniel (58), Ursinus (38), Dickinson (33), Swarthmore (28), Washington (26), and Bryn Mawr (18) rounded out the poll. Franklin & Marshall will open the season on Saturday, August 30 at home in the Mayser Center in the F&M Scramble. 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 before tackling five straight road dates at the Juniata College Tournament (September 26-27), Haverford (September 24), Lebanon Valley (October 2), Johns Hopkins (October 11) and Washington (October 18). The team will 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). 2003 Centennial Conference Preseason Women's Volleyball Poll
1. Gettysburg (8) 98
2. Franklin & Marshall (1) 81
3. Haverford (1) 79
4. Johns Hopkins 76
5. Muhlenberg (1) 70
6. McDaniel 58
7. Ursinus 38
8. Dickinson 33
9. Swarthmore 28
10. Washington 26
11. Bryn Mawr 18
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