RINDGE, N.H.  (November 12, 2019) – In a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team came out firing behind the performance of senior middle hitter Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to sweep Northeast-10 Conference opponent and bitter interstate rival the no. 10 regionally-ranked Southern New Hampshire University Penmen 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22) Tuesday evening in an electric Fieldhouse environment.  

The win, the third in a row for Pierce was their fifth over their past six games pushes them above .500 at 12-11 while they even their conference mark at 6-6. The setback, the second in a row, sends the Penmen to 14-11, 6-5 NE10.

Garnhart was a force to be reckoned with in the middle as the team captain had 10 kills and an insane .533 hitting percentage. Her with fellow middle, freshman Ingrid Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.) wreaked havoc in the match as Lindstrom compiled a team-high matching 11 kills, a .368 hitting percentage and a game-best four total blocks.

With her 10 kills, Garnhart moved into 17th place on the program's all-time kill list with 582 passing Ashley Bruce's (2010-13) 581.

Reigning NE10 Rookie of the Week Mariah Robles (West Covina, Calif.) produced a squad-best 11 kills with four digs, three total blocks, and two aces. Setter Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) stuffed the stat sheet with 35 assists, nine, digs, five kills, two blocks, and one ace. Freshman Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) was the leading defender with 11 digs.

For the guest Penmen, Baylee Lippincott had a game-high 15 kills to go along with eight digs, one assist, and one block. She was the only SNHU player in double-figure kills.

In the match, the Ravens outhit SNHU .333-to-.211 and they out-blocked their opponents by three.

Behind 3-1 in the first set, three consecutive blocks, two dual ones by Robles with Lindstrom and Garnhart coupled with a Lindstrom solo stuff gave Pierce their first lead 4-3. The three blocks were part of a 10-1 scoring spurt capped off by a Brandt kill gave the Ravens an 11-4 edge. The seven-point lead held true until Garnhart clinched the set with a blast from the middle.

Unlike the first set, Pierce started off strong in the second set building a 5-1 edge off a Lindstrom blast which clanked off the SNHU's libero's arm. The Penmen cut their margin to one, 9-8 via a Megan Palmer service ace. A Robles solo block of a Lippincott attack put Pierce ahead 12-9. The Ravens built back a five-point lead after a Joanne Coffey ball handing error. The Ravens eventually won the second set when Lindstrom killed off a free ball.

The third and final set was a close one. Pease notched the first point dropping in an ace. The Ravens led 8-5 when Robles clanged an ace that flicked off the top rope and was deflected by an SNHU player out of play. Behind 14-10, SNHU rallied to tie the set 15-15 off a Grace Pierce kill. They took a two-point lead 18-16 when Lindstrom committed an attack error. Two Pease skip sets tied the game 18-18. Trailing once again by one, a service error with a Garnhart kill put the Ravens back in the driver's seat 20-19. SNHU came within one, 22-21, but a Ganrhart and Robles kill with an SNHU service error wrapped up the sweep for Pierce.

The Ravens end their regular season on Saturday with a Senior Day matchup against Assumption College at 1:00 p.m.

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/).