RINDGE, N.H.  (November 16, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball team has been on a serious tear since the calendar turned to November as they've won four straight games to clinch a spot in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for the first time since the 2016 season. FPU made easy work of conference foe Assumption College sweeping the Greyhounds 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-16) on Senior Day for their third three-set victory of the month.

The win, the sixth over the past seven games for the Ravens ends their regular-season record at 13-11, 7-6 NE10 while the setback concludes the Hounds campaign at 3-21, 1-13 NE10. Pierce finishes over .500 for the first time since 2015 (18-11 overall, 12-2 NE10) and they make their return to the league dance for the sixth time under the guidance of head coach Stephanie Dragan. The Ravens, the preseason ranked no. 12 team out of 14 in the conference, also vastly improved on their 2018 season when they went 5-25 overall and 1-13 in the NE10.  

Seniors and team captains Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine) were honored in a pregame ceremony for their contributions to the team, athletic department and the Franklin Pierce University community. Garnhart tallied five kills, three digs, and two total blocks while Moody chipped in six kills, 10 digs, two assists, and a career-high-tying five service aces. With her double-digit dig performance, Moody needs only seven more to reach 1,000 for her career.

Reigning NE10 Rookie of the Week, right-side hitter Mariah Robles (West Covina, Calif.) paced all players with a game-high 11 kills. Classmate Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) joined her teammate in double-figures with 10 kills of her own while hitting .333 with 16 digs on the defensive end and three aces.

Setter Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) did a fantastic job running the offense and finding the open spot on the court. The junior handed out a match-high 31 assists with seven digs on the defensive end and five kills (.714%) on offense.

For the Greyhounds, Alana Hruska hit .429 and racked up 10 kills. Tess Haller had eight kills and a .357 hitting percentage. Danielle Zarcone and Alexandra Krawczyk carried the team with 11 digs each.

As a team, FPU out-hit (.221-to-.080), out-served (10 aces to 3 aces) and out killed (42-to-27) their counterparts.

Assumption jumped out 6-1 in the opening set until Garnhart killed off a failed block attempt that clanked off her shoulder and onto the Hounds side of the court stopping the run. Pease set up Garnhart a couple of serves later to deadlock the score 9-9. Trailing by one 12-11, Pierce went on a 5-0 mini binge sparkled by a Robles right side mash and capped off by a Brandt ace to lead 16-12. The stretch grew to 9-2 off a Pease kill to expand the edge at 20-14. Freshman middle hitter Ingrid Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.) smacked a ball off the floor and into orbit to put the Ravens within two points at 23-16. A Jill Orosz attack error wrapped up the first set 1-0 in favor of the home team.

With the second set even at six all, three straight Raven points including a Garnhart and Pease stuff of an Orosz attack attempt pushed the Ravens in front 9-6. Assumption brought their deficit to one 11-10 however, Garnhart reestablished a two-point lead, 12-10 when she snuck an attempt just over the net. Robles whacked a kill off an Assumption player's face to grow the margin to four and sophomore defensive specialist Addison Wright (Carmel, Ind.) kept the margin at four after an ace. Pierce took a commanding 2-0 match lead as they ended the set on a 12-6 run.

Pierce had three aces in the third set. They doubled up Assumption 16-8 off two Robles kills and a Moody kill midway through the set. With Moody serving down the stretch, she racked up an ace to bury Assumption. Pease set up Garnhart to polish off the Senior Day win.

Franklin Pierce will find out who they will play Tuesday in the NE10 Quarterfinals tomorrow at the conclusion of the Southern Connecticut State University/Southern New Hampshire University match.

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/).