Miller, Hausman both top 20 digs

RINDGE, N.H. (September 21, 2013) – Senior right side Ashley Bruce (Hampton Falls, N.H.) piled up 14 kills, while senior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 12 more on Saturday afternoon, but it was not enough for the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team, which hit .184 on the afternoon in a 3-1 loss to New Haven in Northeast-10 Conference play at the Fieldhouse. Senior middle Amber Cannady hit .516 with 17 kills for New Haven, while junior outside hitter Margo Meteyer added 17 kills of her own.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 4-1 (0-1 Northeast-10), while New Haven improves to 5-2 (1-0 Northeast-10). The match was a meeting of the top two teams in the Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. New Haven, now in its sixth year in the Northeast-10, has not lost a match in conference play since it joined the league. Franklin Pierce took the first set on Saturday, 25-19, but it would be all the Ravens would get, as New Haven took the next three to come away with the 19-25, 28-26, 25-19, 25-22 victory.

After a service error by Franklin Pierce freshman setter Kelsey Hausman (Sandy, Utah) and a kill by Cannady allowed New Haven to gut out the win in a lengthy second set, the Chargers took control of the third set with an early run which, in retrospect, allowed them to take control of the match. With the score tied 1-1 and Franklin Pierce in control of the ball, New Haven rattled off seven of the next eight points behind two kills from sophomore outside hitter Kristen Lee and two more thunderous shots from Cannady to jump to an 8-2 lead. Franklin Pierce would later get back within a point, at 11-10, after an attack error by Lee, but the Chargers then ripped off the next four points on only one kill, as the Raven attack broke down and New Haven surged back out front, 15-10. The lead would stay between four and seven points for the remainder of the set, and New Haven only trailed briefly in the fourth before putting the match away.

For Franklin Pierce, Bruce continued to put shots away up front as she has throughout the young season, though she also made seven errors on the afternoon to hit .233 over 30 attempts. Ray only committed a pair of errors, but only put away the 12 kills on 40 swings to hit .250. Freshman middle Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas) was the most efficient Raven up front on Saturday, as she hit .318 with eight kills over 22 attempts. As a team, Franklin Pierce hit just .184 in the match.

New Haven didn't fare much better in the Fieldhouse on Saturday, hitting just .214 as the Franklin Pierce defense dug up 73 balls over the four sets. The 6-foot-4 Cannady clearly controlled the Chargers' net play, as she chalked up the .516 hitting percentage by making just one error over 31 swings, most of them ferocious. Meteyer got all of her frame into several shots on the afternoon as well, though she committed seven errors to go with her 17 kills and hit .233 over 43 attempts. Lee added a .286 percentage over 21 attempts on her way to seven kills.

Both setters dished out over 10 assists per set in the match, with New Haven junior Kaulana Ane chalking up a match-best 47 without committing a ball-handling error. Hausman notched 43 assists of her own, the highest total for her in her now five-match-old collegiate career. However, Hausman was also whistled for four ball-handling errors on the day.

Franklin Pierce did not enjoy the advantage in the service game it has become accustomed to over the last season-plus, as the Ravens committed nine service errors in addition to their five aces. New Haven equaled the mark with five aces of its own, though the Chargers also committed 13 service errors, more than three per set.

Defensively, Hausman and senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) were seemingly everywhere in the Franklin Pierce backcourt, as they recorded 23 and 24 digs, respectively, the highest total of the season for either. Sophomore outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) added nine digs, Ray collected eight and sophomore defensive specialist Sarah MacHugh (Red Hook, N.Y.) chipped in seven more as part of a frantic Franklin Pierce effort to keep balls in play on Saturday afternoon. The defensive effort was less prominent at the net, where the team recorded only two blocks, with Garcia figuring in on both.

For New Haven, sophomore libero Kea-Marie Olaso matched Miller with 24 digs, and she was joined in double digits by Meteyer, who added 10 to finish off her double-double. The Chargers were similarly lackluster in their front-line defense, as they collected only two blocks as well.

The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, Sept. 24, when they travel to American International for a Northeast-10 Conference match. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Butova Gymnasium in Springfield, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Saturday, Sept. 28, against Bridgeport at 5 p.m.

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).