EASTON, Mass. (September 30, 2017) – Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) recorded a team-best 10 kills and 20 digs as the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team defeated Northeast-10 Conference opponent Stonehill College 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-22) Saturday afternoon at the Merket Gymnasium. With the win, the Ravens snap a three-game losing skid and improve to 4-10 overall and 2-1 in league play while the Skyhawks tumble to 4-9, 1-2 NE10.

Varricchio hit .286 in the match while adding three blocks and one assist. Senior middle blocker Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) matched Varricchio's kill total with 10 of her own. The team captain led all players with four total blocks. As a team, the Ravens hit a season-high .226 compared to their foes .167 mark. FPU also had a more prominent net presence as they out-blocked their counterparts by a 12 to six margin.

Senior setter Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) recorded her 3,000 career assist when she set the ball for Varricchio who completed the kill to increase the Raven lead to 19-11 in the first set. Runge became only the second member in program history to accumulate 3,000 assists as her 3,017 assist total ranks second on the all-time list to Karissa Hookstadt's (2005-08) program leading mark of 4,306.

Junior outside hitter Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) racked up five kills, nine digs, four service aces and two assists on the afternoon. Fellow outside Sam Bitner (Titusville, Fla.) added six kills, two total blocks, and a .333 hitting percentage. For the Skyhawks, Allyson Hughes chipped in a match-best 14 kills and a team-leading .312 hitting percentage.

In the first set, the Ravens held an early 3-1 lead following a bad set by Jessica Givens. Givens helped her team knot up the score as she notched a helper on Katherine DeLanty's kill. The squads swapped possessions before FPU took control of the set with a 7-1 scoring binge as Carias used two straight aces and a dual block by Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Varricchio capped off the run as the Ravens led 18-10. The Ravens held an eight-point advantage until the hosts crawled back into the set using three straight markers to make the score 19-14. The closest the Skyhawks would come is four points as an Ashley Hitchcock attack error ended the first set.

The Ravens had to rally in the second set as a stretch of eight consecutive points for the Skyhawks moved them ahead 15-10 midway through the set. Back to back blocks from Garnhart, Bitner and St. Jean cut into the deficit at 15-13. Stonehill would match the Ravens with three straight points to reset their lead to five at 18-13 as the Ravens stopped play with a timeout.

The timeout worked in the Crimson and Grey's favor as they poured on four straight to come within one at 18-17 with an Ofeira Petaia (Honolulu, Hawaii) ace capping off the mini-run. Stonehill used their first timeout of the set and responded the same way as the Ravens did by upping their lead back to five with four points in a row. Two Skyhawk miscues with a St. Jean kill and Carias ace brought the deficit back to one at 22-21 until the hosts came one point away from a second set victory. Trailing 24-22, the Crimson and Grey tallied the final four points of the set all coming from Varricchio. She put the Ravens on the brink of a two-set advantage by rocking a kill from the left side into the middle of the court to push FPU ahead 25-24. FPU earned the second set victory as Hitchcock committed another set ending attack error to give the Crimson and Grey a 2-0 match lead.

The final set saw the teams trade possessions in the early moments of the set. Stonehill held a 12-8 edge following a service error by Petaia. After the mistake, FPU responded accordingly by racking up five consecutive points as a St. Jean kill to move the Ravens ahead 13-12 and made the Skyhawks use a timeout. Stonehill deadlocked the set four times over their next few serves until another scoring binge for the Ravens moved the guests back in front at 20-16. Stonehill used another timeout, but the Ravens scored the next two points to increase their advantage to six at 22-16.

The Ravens got a huge block from Bitner and St. Jean as the ball landed in the middle of the court to put the Ravens two points away from a 3-0 sweep. Stonehill answered back with a kill of their own to cut into the lead at 23-18. St. Jean smacked the ball into the middle of the Skyhawk defense off a feed from Runge to up the lead to 24-18. Three straight from the Skyhawks forced the Ravens to stop Stonehill's momentum with a timeout. Following the timeout, the Raven lead was cut down to two, 24-22 as St. Jean's attack attempt hit the net. Varricchio ended any chance of a Stonehill comeback by depositing the final kill from the outside left as the Ravens swept their conference opponent.

The Crimson and Grey return to The Fieldhouse next Saturday, October 7th for a 1:00 p.m. conference contest with Southern New Hampshire University.

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).