Volleyball’s Comeback Not to Be, Fall to Le Moyne in Five

RINDGE, N.H. (November 2, 2019)- Despite double-digit kills from Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Ingrid Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.), a comeback bid by the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team came up short losing 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 25-19, 8-15) to Le Moyne College Saturday at The Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the crimson and grey fall to 9-11, 3-6 NE10 while the Dolphins improve to 11-11, 4-6 NE10.

On the second day of a back-to-back, Garnhart and Lindstrom finished with 12 kills each to lead the Ravens. Lindstrom added four total blocks (one solo, three assisted) in her 14.5-point performance. Garnhart added a service ace and solo block while hitting .267 to finish with 14 points of her own. For Garnhart it was her fifth consecutive game with double-digit kills and the sixth time she has hit north of .250 in the past seven games.

Freshman Mariah Robles (West Covina. Calif.) added nine points on nine kills and Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) had eight and a half points on six kills, two service aces and an assisted block for Franklin Pierce.

Ellie Ivanova (Sofia, Bulgaria) recorded 20 or more digs in her sixth consecutive game with a match-high 27 while adding three service aces and Mary Pease (East Haddam, CT) paced the crimson and grey with 36 assists along with six kills and a solo block.  

Le Moyne had four players finish with double-digit points led by Madeleine Kennedy who tallied 20 points on 19 kills and a pair of block assists and hitting .348 off the bench while Mary Talty pitched in 19 points on 18 kills and a solo block. Jacqueline Ghindia added 14.5 points on nine kills, six total blocks (three solo and three assisted) and an ace. Emily Yancone finished with 10.5 points on five kills, five service aces and an assisted block alongside her match-leading 51 sets.

The Dolphins out-hit Franklin Pierce .207 to .134 and had more service aces with nine against the Ravens seven however Le Moyne also had 11 service errors.

The crimson and grey would never trail in the first set as a kill by Brandt to open the match sparked a quick 4-1 advantage for the Ravens. Le Moyne would quickly recover to close the gap to 4-3 but a service error by Claire Hiwiller and a kill by Robles as she blasted a bad dig by Le Moyne into the back-right corner of the offensive zone would start a stretch that would see the Ravens outscore Le Moyne 16 to 10 to open up a seven-point lead. Le Moyne would close the gap to two after a kill by Talty. However, after a Ravens timeout, Lindstrom recorded one of her six kills in the first set when the Dolphins could not control a dig and Pease sent back an attack by Talty to extend the lead. Le Moyne got back to within two at 24-22 but Garnhart finished the set with a kill that she tucked just inside the backline.

Lindstrom finished the first set hitting a robust .600. As a team, Le Moyne had ten attacking errors against the Ravens five.

The second set would see Le Moyne jump out to a big lead early that was started by an ace by Yancone. The Dolphins would see their lead swell to 11-3 before a kill by Lindstrom sparked a brief 4-1 run for the Ravens. The Dolphins responded by scoring seven of the next eight points to open up a match-high 11-point advantage, 19-8 and would end up winning the set 25-16.

The third set would see the Ravens jump in from 2-0 on an attack error by Megan Fay and a kill by Lindstrom, but Le Moyne would take eight of the next ten points to take an 8-4 advantage before a tip by Pease and an ace by Brandt sparked a 4-1 stretch for the Ravens to cut the deficit to one. Le Moyne answered with an 11-6 spurt of their own to open up a 20-14 lead. Franklin Pierce battled back as an attack error by Yancone and ace by Garnhart started a 7-3 binge which saw the Ravens get back within two at 23-21. Le Moyne hung on to take the set 25-21 after a service ace by Meagan Murphy.

Franklin Pierce would ride momentum to a quick 5-0 advantage in the fourth set capped off by back-to-back kills by Garnhart and after a short 3-0 run by Le Moyne, Garnhart recorded another kill to give her three kills in the Ravens first six points. The crimson and grey would never look back as they would gradually open up a 21-11 advantage. A 5-0 run by Le Moyne would cut the Raven lead in half but a service error by Lexi Arena, a kill by Pease would help the Ravens to keep the lead coupled with a kill by Brandt would secure the Raven victory in the fourth set, 25-19.

The fifth set would see Le Moyne take a big lead early that they would not relinquish as they opened up a 10-4 advantage. Kills by Pease and Garnhart followed by an ace Ivanova got the Ravens within three but Le Moyne would hang on to take the set 15-8 and the match 3-2.

The Ravens will be back in action when they travel to Adelphi next Friday, November 8th for a 7:00 p.m. bout.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://www.shopfpuravens.com) You can also follow the volleyball program on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensVB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpuravensvb/).