Joe Yamulla || Sports Editor

The Diplomats’ volleyball season is officially over. After a successful season filled with hustle and effort, there’s been plenty to cheer about. Despite finishing at a record of 14-15, the team found themselves in the Centennial Conference playoffs, but unfortunately failed to repeat as Conference champions.

The team started the season on a high note, earning  wins in their first four games after beating York, Penn State Berks, Elizabethtown,  and Lancaster Bible. The games that they ended up losing were closely contended, as the losses against Susquehanna, Randolph-Macon, Muhlenberg, and Gettysburg were all decided by a score of 3-2.

When it comes to looking at team leaders, Ellie Ezekiel ‘17 was the stat leader in kills per set at 3.41. She also led the team in number of kills at 355. Alyssa Sanchez ‘16 led the Diplomats in digs per set at 4.71, along with leading the team in total digs at 466. Kelsey Michenko ‘16 was the team leader in hitting percentage at .260, along with blocks per set at .62. Finally, Shae Murphy ‘18 was the team leader in service aces per set at .38, and Allison Edelstein ‘17 led the team in assists per set at 9.90.

Despite coming up short of winning the Centennial Conference in 2015, hopes are certainly high for 2016. The team has almost every player returning next season. However, the losses of seniors Katie Foreman, Alyssa Sanchez, and Kelsey Michenko will certainly be missed. In their final game against McDaniel in the first round of the Centennial Conference playoffs, the Diplomats demonstrated the same level of tenacity and the ability to respond to adversity that they have throughout the whole season. They found themselves losing the first set 21-25, and then the second set 20-25. However, they bounced back to win the third set 25-17. Despite their efforts, they dropped the fourth and final set 22-25 and lost the match to conclude their season.

Also concluding their season within the past two weeks was F&M’s women’s soccer team. Dickinson beat the team by a score of 1-0. Their overall record finished as 3-11-3. Kate Kerr was the team leader in goals with 3, Meghan Byrne was the team leader in assists with 3, and Shannon Johnson-Finn was also consistent all season long as goal keeper. She recorded 56 saves and had a save percentage of .800.

Despite not making to the playoffs this season, the season was not a failure, but rather a building block for future success to come. Next year, head coach Heather Kemp hopes that all her returning players will step up and be prepared to help the team make the next step in the Centennial Conference and as a Division III soccer program. Losing seniors Caroline Letner, Vanessa Duarte, Kim Kornbluth, and Jennifer Lurty will be tough, but there is a strong nucleus of underclassmen who are ready to step up in the following Fall.

Now as the Fall sports seasons like volleyball and women’s soccer are all coming to a close, it’s important for the student body to keep up with the start of winter sports. Upcoming this week are games in men’s and women’s basketball. The F&M sports community needs to make sure it comes together and supports its student athletes this Winter, as we did this Fall for women’s soccer and
volleyball.

Sophomore Joseph Yamulla is the Sports Editor.  His email is
jyamulla@fandm.edu.

By TCR