WALTHAM, Mass. (September 19, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball team headed out on the road to Bentley University and dropped a Northeast-10 Conference contest by a 3-0 (20-25, 17-25, 6-25) margin to the host Falcons Tuesday evening at the Dana Center. With the win, Bentley improves to 7-4, 1-0 NE10 and the loss sends the Crimson and Grey to 3-8, 1-1 NE10.

The Falcons outhit the Ravens on the night by a .303-to-.039 margin while the battle at the net was even with 11 blocks apiece.

Dani Milner was the only player on both teams to reach double-digit kills as she chipped in a game-high 12 kills and 16 digs to go with a .385 hitting percentage. McKenna Buck hit .500 and racked up nine kills and a match-best four total blocks.

For the Ravens, Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) led FPU with six kills, and four total blocks while Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) recorded five kills, 12 digs and two total blocks. Outside hitter Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) and libero Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine) stood out on the defensive end with a game-high 16 digs apiece.   

Franklin Pierce had the contest tied at three all in the first set before Bentley rattled off seven points in a row to hold a 10-3 set advantage following back to back kills from Shannon Kelly.  The Ravens countered by stopping play with a timeout and on the next serve Ofeira Petaia (Honolulu, Hawaii) ended the run with a thunderous kill off a set from Moody.

Petaia brought her squad within five at 17-12 until Rachel Bruno answered right back with a kill of her own and used a block two possessions later to give the Falcons their largest lead of the first set at 20-12. FPU wasn't through however as they tallied a 7-2 mini binge capped off by back to back service aces from Carias which pulled her squad within three at 22-19. The Falcons rebounded by taking a timeout and tallying three straight markers. Kirsten Segaline capped off the set by punishing the ball into the floor for the 25-20 set one victory.

In the second set Bentley jumped ahead 4-0 early on the strength of three consecutive kills from Dani Milner and a Raven attack error. An Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Sam Bitner (Titusville, Fla.) block gave the Ravens their first point until Petaia induced a bad set by Celia Cristofoli to make the score 4-2 in favor of the hosts. Varricchio would bring the Ravens within one at 6-5 with a kill and a dual block with Garnhart. With the set tied and seven apiece, a lengthy rally ensued until Segaline pounded the ball over the net which clanked off a Raven players arm and fell out of play. Segaline's point resulted in three straight markers for Bentley as the Falcons moved ahead 10-7. The opponents traded possessions and points as the hosts upped their lead to eight with the set clinching point by Segaline.

The third set saw Bentley hold a 2-0 lead until the Ravens tied the score at two all as Carias rifled a kill that ricocheted off a Falcon players hand. The hosts rattled off five straight points to regain the lead to their side at 7-2 as the Ravens took a timeout. Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) and St. Jean skied up to block a Segaline attempted kill to bring the Raven deficit to four, 7-3. Franklin Pierce would only notch three more points the rest of the way as the Falcons completed the 3-0 sweep.

Franklin Pierce will conclude non-conference play this weekend when they travel to NYIT on Friday for a 6:00 p.m. duel.

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).