SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 22, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University volleyball program held a 2-1 match lead, but could not contain a late American International College surge as the Ravens lost in five sets 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-18, 20-25, 11-15) in Northeast-10 Conference action Tuesday evening at the Henry A. Butova Gym. With the win, the Yellow Jackets move to 8-14, 5-2 NE10 while the Ravens skid to 7-10, 1-5 NE10.

As a team, the Ravens recorded a season-high 13 total blocks as they had a far superior net presence than their counterparts (six blocks). AIC barely outhit Pierce by a .109-to-.100 margin and had a whopping 38 attack errors.

The Ravens were led by the duo of senior middle Abigail Garnhart (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and freshman right side hitter Mariah Robles (West Covina, Calif.). Both athletes tallied a team-high 11 kills each as Garnhart produced a .304 hitting percentage and seven block assists. Robles was a factor on the defensive side with 14 digs while chipping in one solo block and seven block assists.

Junior libero Ellie Ivanova (Sofia, Bulgaria) had a match-high 26 digs and it marked the third straight game in which she had 20 or more digs. Setter Mary Pease (East Haddam, Conn.) manufactured 34 assists on offense and 22 digs on the defensive side.

For the Yellow Jackets, Andrea Serra was set for attempts 64 times and had 18 kills to go along with 21 digs and nine aces. Sarah Lowery and Jana Potic joined their teammates in double figures with 14 and 13 kills respectively.

Late in the first set, AIC took a 20-17 advantage thanks to a Serra conversion set by Naomi Eckert. The Ravens battled to tie the set 21-21 off the serve of freshman outside Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) who dropped home an ace. Serra put her team back in the driver's seat 23-22, but the Ravens battled till the end tallying the final three points. Freshman middle hitter Ingrid Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.) smoked a middle mash that almost put a hole in the floor which made it 23 all then freshman outside hitter Britney Loyd (Coppell, Texas) roped a ball by the left pin that deflected off an AIC block attempt to put the Ravens ahead by one. A Potic attack error wrapped up the 25-23 first set victory for Pierce.

In the second set, AIC powered to a 7-4 lead off the swing Lowery. Their lead grew to 10-5 when Claudia Gonzalez roped a ball on the left side through the Raven block. Following a timeout, the Ravens drew up a swing for Lindstrom on the right pin for a successful kill to kick off a stretch of four straight points to pull within one, 10-9. Serves later, a long rally ensued when Garnhart and Robles skied up for a huge block to deadlock the score 11-11. On the next serve, Garnhart and Brandt combined for another dual block to put Pierce ahead 12-11. The teams traded points and with the Ravens ahead 20-18, AIC fired off seven straight to take the second set.

Pierce was behind by five, 11-6 early in the important third set. They then reeled off seven in a row, with three straight coming from AIC attack errors to move back in front 13-11. AIC brought the margin down to one, Loyd on the left pin rifled the ball on the line, coupled with an Ivanova ace and Garnhart kill pushed the Ravens lead to 17-12. Needing two more points to win the important third set, Pierce's net presence came up huge with two blocks by both Brandt and Lindstrom to give the crimson and grey the commanding 2-1 match lead.

Trailing 4-1 and on the receiving end of a serve, Pease set up Garnhart to drop the margin to two, 4-2. The squads swapped points before four in a row by the hosts grew their lead to 9-3. The Ravens recorded a couple of markers to drop the margin to three, 11-8. Robles recorded the teams' only solo block on the left pin to make it a 12-10 contest. On the ensuing serve, Pease notched an ace and Robles again blocked an attack attempt to even the score at 12-12. AIC restored the lead with five consecutive of their own to hold a 17-12 advantage. A Pease skip set ended the Yellow Jacket scoring binge, which resulted in three more by Pierce, a Jocelyn Moody (Biddeford, Maine) ace, a Garnhart kill, and an attack miscue to make it a 17-16 fourth set. FPU tried to get closer, but could not and lost the fourth set by five.

The game headed to a fifth set and Robles started things with a bullet from the left pin. AIC answered with two points of their own off kills. Robles tied the game tipping a free ball over the net. AIC took a 5-4 lead off a ball handling error. Trailing 7-4, Pease and Lindstrom combined for a block to make it a 7-5 set. Both teams switched sides at 8-5 and the Ravens led by Brandt came within one, 8-7 off back-to-back kills. AIC tallied two back to regain the 10-7 advantage. The Ravens again pulled within two off a Garnhart block, but AIC established a three-point, 13-10 lead. After a Raven timeout, the Yellow Jackets immediately served the ball into the net. AIC notched the final two points to win three sets to two.

The Ravens wrap up their two-game road trip on Saturday at Southern Connecticut State University with first serve set for noon.

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/).