2024 Volleyball Schedule Announced – Franklin & Marshall College

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall volleyball team has announced its 2024 schedule. The 2024 schedule is shaping up to be a great test for one of the strongest teams in the conference and region, as the Diplomats will host nine matches against opponents ranked in last year’s regional, while fans will have 10 opportunities to watch F&M inside the Mayser Center.

The season opens with one of those 10 home games, as neighboring rival Elizabethtown visits the Mayser Center on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. The following day, F&M travels to Gettysburg to take on Eastern and Messiah. Another in-state rivalry will take place in York, Pa. (Sept. 3) before the Diplomats travel to the Babson Tournament during the second weekend of the season. The games against Babson (Sept. 6), Emerson (Sept. 7) and UMass Dartmouth (Sept. 7) will all be the first matchups in program history against those opponents.

Franklin & Marshall returns home the following weekend to host its own tournament from Friday, Sept. 13 through Saturday, Sept. 14, with games against Virginia Wesleyan, Clarkson and Montclair State. F&M has only met Virginia Wesleyan and Montclair State once before in program history, while the game against Clarkson will be just the third meeting ever (the first since 2019). Another fixture on the team’s annual schedule has been the tournament in Juniata, where the Eagles are coming off an undefeated national championship season. The Diplomats will also face Muskingum for the first time since 2014 over the weekend.

The Centennial Conference Tournament (Sept. 24) will serve as a final tune-up for the team before opening Centennial Conference play at Muhlenberg on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Diplomats will also travel to Washington College (Oct. 5), Gettysburg (Oct. 16), Haverford (Oct. 26) and McDaniel (Nov. 6) in conference play. F&M defeated Muhlenberg in the first round of the Centennial Conference Tournament last season, while Gettysburg and Haverford were also playoff teams last season.

F&M hosts Dickinson (Oct. 9), Bryn Mawr (Oct. 12), Ursinus (Oct. 23), Swarthmore (Oct. 30) and Johns Hopkins (Nov. 9) in the Centennial Conference. The game against the defending conference champion Blue Jays will also be Senior Day for the team, as that game marks the end of the regular season. While the second half of the regular season is primarily focused on Centennial Conference opponents, the Diplomats also host DeSales (Oct. 19) while making trips to William Paterson (Oct. 3) and Misericordia (Nov. 2) (tri-game with Elizabethtown) during the months of October and November.

The top six teams in the Centennial Conference regular season standings will advance to the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday, Nov. 13, with the NCAA Tournament scheduled to begin Thursday, Nov. 21. The Diplomats have made 15 consecutive Centennial Conference Tournament appearances, a Centennial Conference record, and will be seeking the program’s 10th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.

Franklin & Marshall posted a 19-7 overall record during the 2023 season, including an 8-2 Centennial Conference record that culminated in a trip to the conference semifinals. The 2024 season will mark head coach Mary Kate Salko’s 22nd year at the helm of her alma mater. The Diplomats’ 19 wins a season ago were the most for the program since the 2019 campaign.