SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  (November 19, 2019) – With their backs against the wall facing a sweep in the Northeast-10 Conference Quarterfinals, the no. 7 seeded Franklin Pierce University volleyball team forced a fourth set and almost made the match go the distance during a 3-1 (19-25, 15-25, 27-25, 25-27) defeat to the no. 2 seed and reigning NCAA Division II East Region champions American International College Tuesday evening at the Henry A. Butova Gym.  

The loss ends the Ravens season at 13-12 overall and their winning streak at four games while the win propels the Yellow Jackets to 13-16 overall and to the semifinal round Friday evening.

With seven digs in the first set, senior team captain Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine) became the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs. She produced a match-high 21 digs in the battle giving her 1,014 for her career good enough for ninth place on the program's all-time list.

Moody tallied a season-high eight kills in the defeat and hit .333 in the match with a block and an ace. Fellow senior and team captain Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) racked up a team-high 13 kills with a .542 hitting percentage and one total block. Freshman right-side hitter Mariah Robles (West Covina, Calif.) had nine kills, three digs, and two total blocks. Setter Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) dished out 39 assists for the Ravens and had 10 digs. Sophomore Addison Wright (Carmel, Ind.) came in second on the team in digs with 14.

For AIC, Andrea Serra compiled a match-high 27 kills and hit .316 with 11 digs, two aces, and one assist. Jana Potic produced 13 kills and 15 digs while Mai-Lai Hernandez and Sarah Lowery had 12 kills each. Amanda Rodriquez dug out a team-best 18 digs and setter Naomi Eckert set up her teammates 54 times in the win.

The Yellow Jackets outhit the Ravens .267-to-.150 in the match, however, the hosts committed 16 service errors.

Down 2-0 in the showdown, the Ravens started the third set with service. Eckert and Claudia Gonzalez blocked a Raven attack attempt to move them ahead 1-0 early. A Raven attack miscue and a Potic kill put AIC up 3-0 in the beginning of the set. Pease set up Garnhart for a middle mash, which produced the first point for the Ravens. Another Ganrhart kill brought the Ravens within one, 3-2. AIC doubled up Pierce 6-3 when Hernandez buried a free ball kill. The margin dropped to one, 8-7 as Moody perfectly home an ace then freshman middle hitter Ingrid Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.) and Pease blocked an attack attempt.

AIC went on a 4-1 mini spurt to lead 12-8 until a service error gave the ball back to the Ravens down 12-9. They came within two, 13-11 as freshman outside hitter Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) tallied an ace. An AIC attack error put Pierce behind one, 17-16. A Serra kill made it a 20-17 third set as the Ravens looked to cool AIC's momentum with a timeout.

A long rally after the stoppage resulted in a kill by Garnhart. She then received a Pease set and rocked a ball to the open left side of the floor. Robles answered with a kill of her own to tie the set 20-20. Serra tallied a kill in the back left corner to put her team in front 21-20.  With the score 21-21, Serra notched another kill and the back and forth nature of the set continued as Lindstrom bashed a set into the middle of the court to tie it at 22-22.

The teams swapped points then Lindstrom skied up for a solo block of Serra to give the Ravens their first lead of the third set 24-23. With set point on the line, Potic barely got the ball onto the left line. Hernandez then blocked an attack attempt to give the Yellow Jackets a 25-24 lead. AIC committed a service error to deadlock the set 25-25. Two Yellow Jacket attack errors gave the Ravens a 27-25 humongous third set win.

Garnhart did most of her damage in the third set as she racked up six kills and hit .600.

Pierce opened up a 4-2 edge in the fourth set off a Hernandez attack miscue. Following a Raven attack error, Pease skip set the ball into the open center of the hardwood. AIC rallied to lead 6-5 off a Potic kill. A Serra kill and an ace on the ensuing serve regained a two-point edge to AIC at 11-9. AIC held a 15-13 margin and then served it into the net. The Ravens regained the lead off three straight points, a Garnhart tip, a Serra attack error and a Robles right side mash to lead 17-16. Pierce was ahead by two, 19-17 thanks to a Brandt and Robles kill. Down one, 21-20, Moody split the block for a kill to tie the set 21 all. Another AIC attack error with a Moody and Lindstrom left pin block put Pierce within two points, 23-21 to tie the match 2-2. AIC got a kill and a huge block and a kill to jump ahead 24-23.

FPU took a timeout and with the game on the line Pease set up Moody for a kill coupled with a Brandt bash to make it a 25-24 match. The Yellow Jackets would tie the set 25-25 via a Lowery kill and tacked on the final two points to win the contest 3-1.

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/).