Sophomore sets new career high

Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. (September 29, 2009) – Sophomore Dana Rowinski (Dix Hills, N.Y.) pounded out a career-high 17 kills on Tuesday night to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Southern New Hampshire in Northeast-10 Conference play at Franklin Pierce’s Fieldhouse. Junior setter Pamela Walker (Chino Hill, Calif.) matched her season-best with 37 assists for Franklin Pierce. Junior Stephanie Dluginski led SNHU with 14 kills on the evening.

Franklin Pierce took the opening set, 25-23, but Southern New Hampshire responded with a 25-18 win in the second set. From there, it was all Ravens, as Franklin Pierce closed out the match with 25-22 and 25-17 victories in the third and fourth sets, respectively.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 4-11 (1-2 Northeast-10), while Southern New Hampshire falls to 7-2 (1-2 Northeast-10) with the loss. The victory was the first Northeast-10 Conference victory for Franklin Pierce head coach Stephanie Dragan.

For Franklin Pierce, Rowinski led the way with 17 kills, eclipsing her previous career high of 11, set earlier this season. She has now hit for double-digit kills in four of the last six matches. Senior Megan Feldmeth (South Pasadena, Calif.) led the team percentage-wise, with a .294 hitting percentage over 17 attacks (eight kills, three errors). As always, the offense ran through the set of Walker, who matched her season-high with 37 assists without being whistled for a ball-handling error.

Defensively, senior Katie Ristow (Miami, Fla.) led Franklin Pierce with 15 digs, while Walker added 10 of her own to notch her fourth double-double of the season. Feldmeth led the Ravens with four block assists.

Throughout the match, Franklin Pierce utilized the serve to their advantage, as the Ravens tallied nine aces to just four for Southern New Hampshire. All six players who served for Franklin Pierce during the match tallied at least one ace.

For Southern New Hampshire, Dluginski was joined in double figures by sophomore Danielle Coffey, who tallied 13 kills and hit .600 on the evening (one error, 20 attacks). The duo worked off the set of freshman Lauren Lorenz, who dished out a match-best 39 assists. Defensively, freshman Caitlin Wilson led the Penmen with 19 digs, while Coffey tallied a match-best five blocks (one solo).

In the first set, Franklin Pierce used a 6-0 run behind the serve of Ristow, including four kills by Rowinski, to turn a 17-15 deficit into a 21-18 lead on their way to the 25-23 victory. After SNHU ran away with the second set, the two teams played a back-and-forth third set, in which neither teamed mustered more than four points in a row and the Ravens squeaked out a 25-23 victory.

Franklin Pierce put the pedal down early in the fourth set and never looked back. With the set tied 4-4, the Ravens ran off seven of the next eight points behind the serve of Rowinski and senior Caitlynn Parnell (Medina, Texas) to take an 11-5 lead. Southern New Hampshire would not pull closer than four points the rest of the way.

The Franklin Pierce offense hit at a .179 clip in the match, with 52 kills and 27 errors over 140 attacks. The evening was highlighted by a .250 performance in the fourth set, in which the Ravens hammered out 14 kills to just five errors to hit .250 over 36 attempts and close out the match. Franklin Pierce received serve at nearly a 95% rate (.949) on the night, as SNHU came away with just four aces over 75 serves.

For Southern New Hampshire, the offense started hot, as the Penmen hit .389 (15 kills, one error, 36 attacks) and .318 (12 kills, five errors, 22 attacks) in the first two sets, respectively. From there, the numbers went down in a hurry, as SNHU hit .175 in the third set (13 kills, six errors, 40 attacks) and posted only an .031 in the final set (nine kills, eight errors, 32 attacks). The Penmen finished the match with a .223 hitting percentage (49 kills, 20 errors, 130 attacks).

The Ravens return to the court on Friday, Oct. 2, when they remain home to host New Haven in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Fieldhouse in Rindge, N.H.