Franklin & Marshall Cages Johns Hopkins 3-1 in Centennial Conference Volleyball

by Sports Information
9/21/04

LANCASTER, PA - Middle blocker Elizabeth Earll (Sr., New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) finished with 18 kills and four digs to lead the Franklin & Marshall College volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-30, 30-24, 30-28, 30-24) Centennial Conference victory over Johns Hopkins University.

The match continued Hopkins trials in the Mayser Center as the Jays have never recorded a victory over the Diplomats in Lancaster since the Centennial Conference was founded in 1993.

In addition, the win snaps a two-match losing streak by Franklin & Marshall to Hopkins as the Diplomats fell 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 32-30) in Baltimore during the regular season and 3-2 (30-19, 23-30, 30-26, 26-30, 15-6) in the opening round of the 2003 Centennial Conference playoffs at Gettysburg College.

The last time F&M knocked off Johns Hopkins by a 3-1 final in Lancaster, then outside hitters Kristen Kowalski '03 and Emily Green '02 put down 15 and 13 kills, respectively, in the 2000 Centennial Conference Championship match as the Franklin & Marshall volleyball team defeated Johns Hopkins University 8-15, 15-5, 15-10, 15-5 to claim their second consecutive Centennial Conference championship and give head coach Steve Coulson the 250th win of his career. It marked the second 3-1 win of the season for F&M in Lancaster over the Jays as the Diplomats recorded a 17-15, 9-15, 15-9, 15-8 on September 20, 2000 behind 54 assists from setter Mary Kate Boland '01.

This time around, Boland was the F&M head coach and Coulson was an assistant as the Diplomats overcame a first game in which they never led to take another 3-1 win and up the program's record to 18-7 all-time against Johns Hopkins.

Setter Jackie Skibbie (Jr., Darby, PA/Merion Mercy) finished with 41 assists, six kills and 21 digs to anchor the F&M attack, while outside hitter Nicole Kushman (So., Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks West) tacked on 12 kills, 25 digs and two service aces.

Defensively, libero Meghan Godorov (Jr., Orefield, PA/Parkland) chipped in 38 digs as the Diplomats fought to take a 2-1 advantage and built a 16-6 lead to hold on for the 30-24 fourth game victory.

Franklin & Marshall (7-3, 2-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on September 23 at Haverford College. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.

Johns Hopkins (6-3, 1-1 CC) 30-24-38-24
Franklin & Marshall (7-3, 2-0 CC) 25-30-30-30

Kills: Elizabeth Earll 18, Nicole Kushman 12, Jackie Skibbie 6
Digs: Meghan Godorov 38, Nicole Kushman 25, Jackie Skibbie 21
Assists: Jackie Skibbie 41
Service Aces: Nicole Kushman 2