RINDGE, N.H. (April 18, 2021) -- It wound up as quite the busy day in the Fieldhouse on Sunday. The Franklin Pierce University volleyball team and Stonehill squared off in a doubleheader, and both matches went the distance. Each side took one of the five-set contests, with Stonehill picking up a 3-2 win in the opener (25-21, 25-27, 25-20, 22-25, 15-12), and Franklin Pierce answering with a 3-2 victory in the second match (25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-8).

With the split, Franklin Pierce now stands at 1-3 on its spring season, while Stonehill moves to 1-1.

Match 1: Stonehill 3, Franklin Pierce 2

In the first match, the fifth set was tied at 3-3, before Stonehill ran off four straight points and jumped to a 7-3 lead on a kill by junior Shannon Burgess. Franklin Pierce would later pick up three of four points, including kills by sophomore Tessa Brandt (Foster, R.I.) and junior Cierra Dolan (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.), to close the gap to 10-8.

Stonehill stretched the lead back out to 13-8, before the Ravens crept back within two points again, at 13-11, on an ace by Brandt. The Skyhawks took two of the next three points though, both on kills by sophomore Basia Peragine, to close out the set and the match.

Franklin Pierce got 18 kills in the match from sophomore Mariah Robles (West Covina, Calif.), who hit .429 in the contest. Sophomore Ingrid Lindstrom (Dudley, Mass.) added 10 kills, while Dolan contributed eight more and hit .316. The offense worked off the sets of freshman Maddie Ward (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and junior Lauren Herrera (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), who dished out 28 and 12 assists, respectively. Brandt had a team-high three aces and also led the Ravens with 21 digs, while senior Ellie Ivanova (Sofia, Bulgaria) added 19 of her own. Lindstrom chalked up six blocks (three solo) to lead all players.

For Stonehill, Peragine did the heavy lifting, as she hit a match-best .449 while hammering out 27 kills. Junior Abby Remick added 21 kills, while freshman Jentry Allen (13) and Burgess (11) made it four Skyhawks in double digits. They all worked off the set of junior Lauren Wilke, who provided a staggering 65 assists. Five Skyhawks reached double digits in digs, led by junior Carly Russell (25) and Remick (21).

Match 2: Franklin Pierce 3, Stonehill 2

In the second match, Franklin Pierce took control early on in the decisive fifth set. A kill from Robles and an ace by Brandt made it 2-0 out of the gate, before a Brandt service error gifted Stonehill its only point of the first eight. The Ravens used another kill by Robles to make it 3-1, and then ran off four straight points on the serve of Ivanova, capped with an ace to make it 7-1. Stonehill would not get closer than five points the rest of the way, and Robles eventually finished things off with her fifth kill of the set.

Robles did one better for herself in the second match, as she tallied 19 kills while hitting .378. Lindstrom joined her in double digits by hitting .348 with 10 kills. Ward carried a majority of the setting load again the second time around, as she finished with 31 assists, while Herrera added nine. Ward also served up three aces, as did Ivanova. Brandt (18 digs) and Ivanova (17) both finished in double digits defensively, while Lindstrom piled up five more blocks (four solo) to finish the day with 11 (seven solo).

On the other side of the net, Stonehill got 23 more kills from Remick in the second match, though she hit just .213 in the process. The Ravens were largely able to neutralize Peragine, as she recorded 12 kills, but also committed seven errors and hit just .167. Wilke nearly made it back-to-back 50-assist outings, as she finished with 49 helpers. Russell piled up 31 digs, but no other Skyhawk reached double digits. Burgess tallied five blocks (two solo).