Miller piles up 23 digs

RINDGE, N.H. (September 25, 2012) – Four players recorded 10 or more kills on Tuesday night for the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team, led by 14 from junior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.), on the way to a 3-2 victory over Massachusetts Lowell in the Northeast-10 Conference opener at the Fieldhouse. Sophomore right side Sierra Brown led all players with 16 kills and hit .429 in defeat for Lowell.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 7-8 (1-0 Northeast-10), while Massachusetts Lowell falls to 5-6 (0-2 Northeast-10). After Lowell squeaked out a 25-23 win in the first set, Franklin Pierce fired back with 25-19 and 25-17 wins in the second and third sets, respectively. The River Hawks again narrowly won the fourth set, 26-24, before the Ravens finished things off, 15-9, in the fifth.

Up two sets to one, Franklin Pierce roared out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth set, trying to finish things off and prompting a Lowell timeout. After the timeout, the River Hawks ran off 10 of the next 12 points to jump to a 10-7 lead, and eventually the set wound up tied at 23-23. A kill by Ray made it 24-23 and gave the Ravens their first match point of the night. However, a kill by Brown, an attack error by Franklin Pierce and a kill by Lowell sophomore outside hitter Ella Merrill quickly turned the tables and forced the decisive fifth set.

In the fifth set, Franklin Pierce opened with nine of the first 12 points, getting kills from four different players and sprinkling in an ace from junior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) amidst some errors committed by Lowell. From there, the outcome was mostly academic, as the Ravens wound up with seven match points headed their way with a 14-7 lead. After the River Hawks staved off two of them, sophomore outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) finished off the match with her 11th kill of the night.

For Franklin Pierce, after Ray's 14 kills and Swiderski's 11, freshman outside hitter Madison Duffy (Bethel, Conn.) and junior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) added 10 each, with the former hitting a team-best .409 (minimum 10 attempts). The Ravens alternated setters throughout the night, with junior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.) tallying 26 assists to tie for the match lead and freshman Kellee Cranston (Reno, Nev.) dishing out 21. Miller served up four aces to lead all players.

Defensively, Miller finished with a match-high 23 digs, and was joined in double digits by Svorinic, who picked up 13 to finish off her double-double. Ray picked up nine digs to narrowly miss a double-double of her own. At the net, freshman middle Lina Kleinschmidt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) chipped in a team-high three block assists to go with her seven kills.

For Lowell, Brown led three players in double digits, as she was joined by Merrill (14 kills) and sophomore middle Anisa Smith, who contributed 11 kills without an error over 20 attempts to hit a match-best .550. Three River Hawks finished with double digits in assists: senior Kristina Wiltjer (26), junior Carolyn Eddy (15) and junior Olivia Parkins (13). Junior outside hitter Brooke Peterson tallied three aces.

Defensively for the River Hawks, Eddy led the way with 18 digs and Wiltjer finished a double-double as well with 11. Peterson (11) and Merrill (10) made it four Lowell players in double digits. Brown and Peterson notched two block assists each.

The Ravens return to the court on Friday, Sept. 28, when they travel to Bridgeport for a non-conference contest. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Harvey Hubble Gymnasium in Bridgeport, Conn.

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' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).