Jackson, Miller effective in final collegiate match

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (December 5, 2013) – Senior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) had five kills without an error to hit .312 and senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) averaged seven digs a set in the final collegiate match for each, but it would not be enough on Thursday afternoon, as the seventh-seeded Franklin Pierce University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to second-seeded LIU Post in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championship East Regional, hosted by Bridgeport at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium. The LIU Post defense piled up 78 digs (26 per set) and seven blocks to hold Franklin Pierce to an .068 hitting percentage in the match.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce finishes its season at 14-9 after its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship. LIU Post improves to 23-9 and will advance to meet third-seeded New York Tech in Friday's semifinal round. NYIT dispatched Dowling, 3-1, earlier on Thursday. LIU Post swept the match with scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-18.

Franklin Pierce led the first set at 11-7, before LIU Post ran off seven of the next eight points and 14 of the next 19 to stake itself to a 21-16 lead it would not relinquish. Sophomore libero Rachel Ringor was a catalyst in the run for the Pioneers, as she served up four straight points -- including three aces -- to move her team from a 10-12 deficit to a 14-12 advantage.

The Ravens nearly evened things immediately, narrowly falling in a back-and-forth second set. Neither team would ever lead by more than two points in the set, which would be tied at 13-13, 18-18, 20-20 and 23-23. Franklin Pierce led as late as 23-21, before the Pioneers found four straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Junior middle Heather Adams had back-to-back kills at 21-23 to knot the set at 23-23. As it happened, next in the service rotation for LIU Post after the first Adams kill was Ringor, whose serve was a thorn in the side of the Ravens all afternoon. Ringor would serve up the final three points of the set, which ended when sophomore outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) narrowly missed wide while attempting to float a ball down the left sideline.

From there, LIU Post put away the third set in short order, as the Pioneers took 12 of the first 15 points and led by as many as 12 on the way to finishing the sweep. Franklin Pierce would mount a late rally by winning nine of 12 points from 6-18 to 15-21, powered by four of Schulz's seven kills on the afternoon. The hole would prove too deep to climb out of, however, as LIU Post set itself up with eight straight match points at 24-16. The Ravens staved off the first two, including an ace from sophomore defensive specialist Catherine Purdy (Ossining, N.Y.), but then LIU Post senior outside hitter Makamae Namahoe put down a kill to finish the match.

For Franklin Pierce, Schulz and Swiderski each came up with seven kills, but each also committed at least as many errors, as the pair hit .000 over 41 attempts and -.036 over 28 attempts, respectively. Meanwhile, the team's pair of middles was able to do some damage at the net as Jackson and freshman Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas) chalked up five kills each. As mentioned earlier, Jackson went without an error to hit .312 over 16 swings, while Garcia also took 16 attempts and committed one error to hit .250. The Ravens ran the offense primarily through senior setter Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who dished out 20 assists in her collegiate finale.

A balanced service attack chalked up six aces on the afternoon, spread among five different players. However, the Ravens also committed five service errors along the way. It was a similar story for LIU Post, which had six aces -- led by three from Ringor during the first-set surge -- but also committed four service errors.

Defensively, Miller led four Ravens in double digits in digs with 21. Schulz added 14, senior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) chipped in 12 and sophomore defensive specialist Sarah MacHugh (Red Hook, N.Y.) mixed in 10. Franklin Pierce's front line came up with three blocks, and Jackson factored in on all three of them, including one solo stuff.

For LIU Post, senior middle Susy Cricchi led the way with 12 kills against only two errors to hit a team-best .312 over 32 attempts. Freshman outside hitter Shelby McCool also put down 12 kills, as she hammered balls from just off the left antenna nearly all afternoon long, though she added seven errors to hit just .139 over 36 swings. Junior middle Heather Adams made it three Pioneers in double digits with 10 kills against three errors to hit .304 over 23 attempts. LIU Post worked primarily off the set of junior Lulu Centro, who collected a match-high 35 assists.

Defense would be where LIU Post was able to shine, as Ringor led all players with 22 digs to lead three Pioneers in double digits. Namahoe piled up 19 of her own, while Centro mixed in 12 more. At the net, LIU Post rang up seven blocks, led by four block assists each from Adams and sophomore middle Melissa Hansen.

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' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).