Parnell collects 1000th kill; Ristow enters record books

Box Score

RINDGE, N.H. (November 3, 2009) – Senior Caitlynn Parnell (Medina, Texas) tallied 16 kills, including the 1,000th of her career, to go with 17 kills on Tuesday night to post a double-double and lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Post in non-conference play at Franklin Pierce’s Fieldhouse. Senior Katie Ristow (Miami, Fla.) played in her 124th match for Franklin Pierce, establishing a new program record. Franklin Pierce honored its senior class prior to the start of the match.

Franklin Pierce took the first set, 25-11, before Post evened things up with a 25-22 victory in the second set. From there, the Ravens closed out the match with a pair of 25-20 victories in the third and fourth sets. With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 8-20 (3-10 Northeast-10), while Post falls to 9-23 (9-9 Central Atlantic) with the loss.

For Franklin Pierce, Parnell led the way with her third double-double of the season as she led all players in kills and was one of three Ravens with double-digit dig totals. Ristow and fellow senior Megan Feldmeth (South Pasadena, Calif.) contributed to the offense with nine and seven kills, respectively, while junior setter Pamela Walker (Chino Hills, Calif.) dished out 34 assists. Defensively, Ristow picked up a career-high 21 digs and junior libero Chelsie Kohout (Harrison Township, Mich.) added 13 of her own to join Parnell in double digits. Senior Kelly Mahoney (Wakefield, R.I.) and sophomore Dana Rowinski (Dix Hills, N.Y.) tied for the match lead with five block assists each.

The Franklin Pierce offense was at its best during the third set, when it hit .250 with 13 kills and four errors over 36 attacks. The Ravens front line worked well together all night, as the team collected nine blocks without a solo block.

For Post, freshman Aubrey Latham led four Eagles in double digits with 14 kills and added 17 digs to finish a double-double of her own. She was joined in double figures offensively by sophomore Elizabeth Knight (12 kills), junior Teresea Hodges (11) and sophomore Monique Chance (10). Hodges added 18 digs while sophomore setter Taylor Doyle dished out a match-best 37 assists to go with 11 digs as three Post players finished with double-doubles on the evening.

Parnell’s eighth kill of the match was the 1,000th of her career and came when she put away a Walker set to give the Ravens a 19-16 lead in the second set. Parnell became the third player in program history to top 1,000 kills and may soon be joined in the exclusive club by Ristow, who currently has 989 career kills.

Meanwhile, Ristow played in her 124th match, which broke a tie with Nicole Buchholz and moved Ristow into first all-time in Franklin Pierce history. Ristow has missed just one match in her four years in Rindge, due to injury in her junior season of 2008.

After the match was tied at 1-1 with Post’s second-set win, Franklin Pierce responded by taking the first six points of the third set, including three more kills from Parnell as part of a five-point run on Rowinski’s serve. The Ravens went on to take the set, 25-20.

Now leading 2-1 and with a slim, 20-19 edge in the fourth set, the Ravens put the match away by taking five of the final six points to take another 25-20 victory. Walker finished off the match when she dumped a Kohout dig over the net and into the middle of the Post court for her fourth kill of the match.

The Ravens return to the court on Friday, Nov. 6, when they travel to Adelphi for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at Center for Recreation and Sport in Garden City, N.Y.