Ravens battle hard but fall to Dowling, then come back to defeat Georgian Court

Boxscore vs. Dowling
Boxscore vs. Georgian Court

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (October 19, 2007) – The Franklin Pierce University women’s volleyball team split two matches in an evening doubleheader on the campus of Bryant University on Friday night. In their first match of the night, the Ravens were defeated by Dowling College, the top-ranked team in the Northeast in the first 2007 NCAA Div. II Regional Poll, by a score of 3-0 (30-26, 30-28, 30-13), but the 10th-ranked Ravens came back strong to take down sixth-ranked Georgian Court University in five hard-fought games, 3-2 (25-30, 32-30, 30-25, 25-30, 15-9).

In the opening match against Dowling, the Ravens nearly surprised the Golden Lions in each of the first two games before falling by four and two points, respectively. Dowling then came out strong and easily took the third game to take the match.

Redshirt freshman Michelle Koike (San Francisco, Calif./Gonzaga University) led the Raven attack against the Golden Lions, leading all players with a career-high 16 kills on a season-best .583 hitting percentage. Junior Emily Schultz (Salem, Wis./Westosha Central) also played well as the Raven setter, posting the only double-double of the match with 31 assists and 12 digs.

Less than an hour following their first match, the Ravens were back in action against Georgian Court, and Franklin Pierce put together one of its best efforts of the season in a hard-earned five-game victory.

Koike once again led the way offensively with 15 kills and five blocks, while Schultz set a new career-high with 40 assists to accompany 11 digs and four blocks. The Ravens also received excellent efforts from freshmen Diana Rutt (Dayton, Nev./Dayton), who posted 13 kills, and Chelsie Kohout (Harrison Township, Mich./L’Anse Creuse), who posted 31 digs, as well as junior co-captain Nicole Buchholz (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge), who added 10 kills and five blocks.

With the split, Franklin Pierce moves to 16-13 overall on the season with four matches remaining in the 2007 regular season. The Ravens will look to improve on their 9-3 mark in Northeast-10 play when the team returns to conference action against undefeated Bryant University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.