Ray hits .350 with eight kills

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (October 11, 2013) – Senior outside hitter Natasha Ray (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had eight kills and hit .350 on Friday night, but half of her kills came in the first set, and the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team's offense went quiet afterwards in a 3-0 loss to LIU Post in non-conference play at Pratt Recreation Center. Junior middle Heather Adams hit .421 and put away 10 kills to lead an LIU Post offense which hit .372 on the evening.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 5-5 (0-4 Northeast-10), while LIU Post improves to 15-4 (6-1 Northeast-10). After a competitive first set, which LIU Post took, 26-24, the Pioneers finished off the sweep with a 25-18 win in the second set and a 25-15 win in the third set.

The first set went back and forth, as neither team ever led by more than five points, and the lone five-point advantage was an 8-3 Franklin Pierce lead early on, which was immediately erased by a five-point run by LIU Post. After the set was tied at 8-8, neither side led by more than two points the rest of the way. The Ravens held a two-point lead as late as 22-20, but then the Pioneers took four of the next five points and six of the next eight to come away with the 26-24 victory. LIU Post then won the first five points of the second set behind the serve of junior setter Lulu Centro and never looked back.

LIU Post has more wins than any other East Region team except New York Tech – which Franklin Pierce will face tomorrow – and its offense showed why on Friday night, putting down 39 kills against only seven errors and racking up 12 service aces along the way. Already with a 2-0 lead, the Pioneers opened the throttle even more in the third set, putting away 13 kills against two errors over just 23 attempts to hit .478 in the set while finishing off the match. Meanwhile, Franklin Pierce hit .312 in the first set to remain competitive, but fell off afterwards; the Ravens hit only .175 over the remainder of the match.

Ray was the only Franklin Pierce player to record more than five kills on Friday night, though senior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) did put away five shots without making an error over eight attempts to hit .625. Though the Ravens were aced 12 times, they did come up with eight aces of their own, led by five from senior setter Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Franklin Pierce ran the offense through the dual set of freshman Kelsey Hausman (Sandy, Utah), who recorded 18 assists, and Svorinic, who finished with nine.

Defensively, senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) led the team with 14 digs, while Ray added seven. At the net, the Ravens recorded only two blocks on the evening and canceled those out with a pair of blocking errors.

Adams led the LIU Post offense, but she was not without support, as sophomore middle Melissa Hansen added nine kills and made only one error over a team-high 20 attempts to hit .400. Senior middle Susy Cricchi was only set seven times for the Pioneers, but she put five of those attempts away for kills and did not commit an error to hit .714. Centro ran the offense for LIU Post and dished out 29 assists to go with three aces. Adams added three aces as well, while sophomore libero Rachel Ringor led the service efforts with five aces.

Ringor also led the defensive effort for the Pioneers, as she racked up a match-best 16 digs, while senior middle Makamae Namahoe added eight more. Like Franklin Pierce, LIU Post netted zero points up front defensively, as the Pioneers recorded three blocks, but committed three blocking errors.

The Ravens return to the court on Saturday, Oct. 12, when they travel to New York Tech for a non-conference contest. First serve is set for noon at Recreation Hall in Old Westbury, N.Y. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Tuesday, Oct. 22 against Merrimack at 7 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).