Swiderski adds nine kills

RINDGE, N.H. (November 5, 2011) – Sophomore middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) hit a match-best .444 with nine kills and added a match-high seven blocks on Saturday afternoon to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference play at the Fieldhouse. Freshman outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) added nine kills of her own in the victory to match Jackson for the match lead.

With the win, Franklin Pierce climbs back to .500 and finishes the season at 13-13 (7-8 Northeast-10), while Assumption concludes the campaign at 7-22 (1-14 Northeast-10). The Ravens swept to the victory by set scores of 25-19, 25-9 and 26-24.

Franklin Pierce seized control of the afternoon early in the second set. Already up 1-0 after the first-set victory and leading 2-1 in the second, sophomore middle Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) put away a kill to make it 3-1 and give the Ravens the serve. From there, the crimson and grey ran off seven straight points on the serve of sophomore defensive specialist Michelle Marguette (North Kingstown, R.I.) to take a 10-1 lead. After Assumption put away a kill to make it 10-2, the Greyhounds immediately gave serve back with a service error to make it 11-2.

Sophomore right side Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took the ball for the Ravens and ran off five more points to give Franklin Pierce a commanding, 16-2 lead, and the club would not look back the rest of the afternoon. All told, the run stretched to 20-3, as the Ravens pushed the lead to 22-4 before Assumption picked up back-to-back points. Over the run, Jackson collected four kills and two blocks (one solo), while Ray chipped in two aces, a kill and a block assist.

After Jackson and Swiderski for the Ravens, Ray was the only player to tally more than five kills on the afternoon, as she finished with six. The Ravens ran the offense through the set of sophomore Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who finished with a match-best 30 assists. Franklin Pierce served up eight aces in the contest, primarily thanks to sophomore libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.), who had four aces, and Ray, who provided three more.

As a team, Franklin Pierce put away 36 kills against 11 errors over 99 attacks to hit .253 for the match. By contrast, Assumption committed more errors (27) than kills (25) over 105 swings to post a -.019 mark.

Defensively for the Ravens, Jackson stole the show at the net with her seven blocks (two solo), while Bruce and Ray contributed three block assists each and freshman middle Jocelyn Smith (Groton, Conn.) added three blocks as well (one solo), as the Ravens piled up 10 as a team. In the back row, Miller picked up a team-best 16 digs.

For Assumption, sophomore middle Ryan Merle led the team with eight kills, while sophomore outside hitter Mary Johnston added six. The duo and the rest of the Greyhounds attack worked off of sophomore setter Kristin Flatekval, who handed out 21 assists.

Defensively, sophomore outside hitter Lauren Ostafin led all players with 17 digs and was joined in double digits by classmate libero Jess Reimers, who collected 15. Up front, senior middle Sam Lupinski led the Greyhounds with two blocks (one solo).

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).