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Freshman piles up 15 kills, 13 digs, four aces

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RINDGE, N.H. (October 2, 2010) – Freshman outside hitter Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) posted her fourth double-double of the season and her second in three matches as she hit .324 with 15 kills and added 13 digs on Saturday night to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 Conference play at Franklin Pierce's Fieldhouse. Junior outside hitter Megan Lyons posted a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs in the loss for SCSU.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 6-5 (1-4 Northeast-10), while Southern Connecticut State falls to 8-7 (2-3 Northeast-10). Franklin Pierce swept the match with set scores of 25-21, 25-20 and 26-24.

Miller committed just three errors over 37 swings to post her .324 attacking percentage and helped lead the Ravens to a .220 percentage over 127 attacks on the day. She was joined on the offensive side of the ball by senior outside hitter Christina Calderon (Tombstone, Ariz.), who hit .333 while recording 11 kills. The duo worked through senior setter Pam Walker (Chino Hills, Calif.), who dished out 31 assists. Miller chipped in four aces over the course of the night as well.

Defensively, it was Miller with her 13 digs and senior libero Chelsie Kohout (Harrison Township, Mich.), who recorded 18 of her own, who led the way. Freshman middle Katie Jackson (Cherry Creek, Colo.) contributed a match-best three blocks (one solo).

For SCSU, Lyons led the way, hit .286 on the evening and was the only Owl to reach double digits in kills, though freshman outside hitter Lauren McVey did add seven digs and seven kills. Sophomore setter Kimberly Lachowicz ran the offense for SCSU and finished with 28 assists, to go with 10 digs, as she posted her own double-double. Lachowicz added five kills over nine attacks on the night, as well. Defensively, sophomore libero Vanessa Sullivan (21 digs), Lyons (12) and Lachowicz (10) all finished in double digits for Southern Connecticut State.

Miller came out of the gates on a roll, as she piled up seven kills while hitting .583 in the first set as the Ravens hit .300 as a team, compared to just .108 for SCSU. In the second set, her focus shifted to back row, as she racked up eight digs while Calderon ran up six kills without an error over 12 swings. The second set was tied at 14-14 before the Ravens surged to an 18-14 lead behind the serve of Jackson, who served up back-to-back aces to force an SCSU timeout along the way.

The third set featured plenty of back-and-forth play, beginning with three consecutive aces from Miller, who added five kills and three digs in the match's final set. SCSU would close the gap behind three straight points off the serve of freshman middle Sarah Beres and, later, four more on Lyons' serve. Franklin Pierce called a timeout trailing 24-23 and Miller picked up a kill coming out of it to make it 24-24. After a ball-handling error by Lachowicz, Calderon put away a set from Walker to finish off the match with a 26-24 victory in the third set.

The Ravens return to the court on Wednesday, Oct. 6, when they travel to Saint Anselm for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Stoutenburgh Gym in Manchester, N.H. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Oct. 13 against Massachusetts Lowell at 7 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).