OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (September 22, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball team left Rindge on Friday night as they headed to the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and Recreation Hall for a non-conference showdown with the Bears. The Ravens suffered a 3-0 (18-25, 15-25, 19-25) sweep at the hands of the host Bears as NYIT improved to 11-2 on the campaign with the victory while the Ravens fell to 3-9 overall.

The Bears had two players in double digit kills as Karolina Moderova led all players with 15 kills and added 20 digs on the defensive end. Tiffany Verni recorded 13 kills as well while Allison Folwer dished out a game-high 42 assists and Chessie Santeramo tallied a contest-best 23 digs.

For the Ravens, Hannah St. Jean (Olympia, Wash.) had seven kills for the Crimson and Grey with a game-high three total blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Varricchio (Boynton Beach, Fla.) chipped in six kills and 12 digs. Libero Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine) led all Raven players with 20 total digs and setter Hannah Runge (Deltona, Fla.) doled out 17 assists. Runge is only 20 assists away from becoming only the second member of the 3,000 assist club in program history.

Sophomore middle blocker Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) gave the Ravens their largest lead of the first set at 5-2 as she stuffed an attack from Tiffany Verni at the net. A few possessions later, the Bears would knot the set at nine all as Fowler set the ball for Moderova and she completed the kill. Megan Mannle would give her squad their first lead of set one as the Bears led by one 12-11. With the hosts holding a three point edge, the Ravens would answer back by forcing Fowler into an attack error to make it a two point deficit. NYIT would increase their advantage to six with four straight points before Hanley Gilmour committed an attack error. NYIT would outscore Franklin Pierce 4-2 over the final few serves as Ashley Chieca clinched the set one victory for the Bears.

Both teams hit their best in the opening series of the match as NYIT recorded a .275 percentage and FPU tallied a .083 percentage.

The second set saw the hosts jump ahead 4-1 early on as Fowler and Mannle connected again for a point. Trailing by four, Runge had a hand in the next four Raven markers to tie the set as she notched a solo block and handed off three straight helpers to teammates including two connections in a row with Varricchio to make the score 8-8. The squads swapped possessions as the Bears recorded a 5-0 mini run using three kills and two Raven attack errors to increase their advantage to 17-11 as the guests used their first timeout of the set. The timeout worked momentarily as the Bears immediately committed a service error then Brittney Carias (Burlingame, Calif.) and Runge teamed up for a kill to cut into the deficit at four, 17-13. Holding an 18-14 second set score, the Bears held the Ravens to one more point as they took the set by a 25-15 margin.

In set three, the Ravens trailed in the early stages until they scored three consecutive points using a Garnhart kill and two Bear miscues to turn a two point deficit into a one point, 11-10 lead. The third set was a back and forth affair in the middle stages as each team swapped possessions. Trailing by one, 15-14 as they did earlier in the set, the Ravens responded with three in a row as St. Jean tallied two kills to push the Ravens back ahead, this time by two, 17-15. The Bears would go on to score seven straight to regain the lead at 22-17. A Bears attack error and a Carias kill got two of those points back as the deficit was dropped to three at 22-19, but the hosts scored the final three points to complete the sweep.

The Ravens conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule tomorrow with a 3:00 p.m. showdown at LIU Post.

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).