Ravens close out program's most successful season

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (November 29, 2012) – Four players recorded eight or more kills on Thursday night, led by 10 from junior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.), but the fifth-seeded Franklin Pierce University volleyball team was defeated, 3-1, by fourth-seeded New York Tech in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championship East Regional, hosted by New Haven at Charger Gymnasium. Junior outside hitters Shelby Cable and Savannah Donarksi had 18 and 16 kills, respectively, to pace NYIT.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce concludes its season at 19-15. The match marked the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Ravens bounced back from a 25-16 loss in the first set to post a 25-20 victory in the second. However, NYIT posted 25-15 and 25-16 wins to close out the match in four sets.

With the victory, NYIT improves to 22-9 and will face top-seeded New Haven in the semifinal round on Friday night. New Haven dispatched eighth-seeded Dominican (N.Y.) in straight sets earlier on Thursday, 25-14, 25-21, 25-16.

In addition to kills, Jackson led the four primary attack options for Franklin Pierce in attack percentage as well, as she committed four errors over 23 attempts to finish at .261. Behind her, junior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) added nine kills and hit .250, while freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) chipped in eight kills each. The quartet and the rest of the Raven offense worked off the set of junior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who dished out 31 assists.

For much of the year, Franklin Pierce's success came, at least in part, through its service game. On Thursday however, the Ravens collected just a pair of service aces, while committing five errors and surrendering eight aces to NYIT.

Defensively for Franklin Pierce, Svorinic and freshman outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) finished with 10 digs each. The NYIT offense did a notable job of avoiding the All-Northeast-10 Second Team libero, junior Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.), who was held to seven digs. At the net, the Ravens generated two blocks, one each by Jackson and Kleinschmidt.

For NYIT, behind Cable and Donarksi, freshman middle Kate Brock was the only other Bear with more than six kills, as she finished with eight while hitting .353. Cable led the team in attack percentage (minimum 10 attempts) at .368, as the NYIT offense hit .331 on the night. The Bears ran the offense through junior setter Marija Jovanovic, who finished with 49 assists.

Defensively, senior libero Tugce Sirdas led NYIT with 19 digs and was joined in double digits by Cable (15) and Jovanovic (13). Up front, the Bears piled up nine blocks, led by five block assists from Brock, while junior middle Kelly Brown figured in on four (two 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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce volleyball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).