Swiderski leads all players with 13 kills

RINDGE, N.H. (October 26, 2013) – Freshman middle Aiden Garcia (Eagle Pass, Texas) did not commit an attack error over 19 attempts on Saturday evening on her way to 10 kills and a .526 attack percentage to lead the Franklin Pierce University volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference play in the Fieldhouse. Sophomore middle Tara Reilly hit a match-best .692 with only one error over 13 attempts to notch 10 kills and lead Assumption in the loss.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 8-6 (3-4 Northeast-10), while Assumption falls to 4-15 (1-9 Northeast-10) and drops its fourth consecutive match. Franklin Pierce took the first two sets by 25-20 scores before finishing things off with a 25-18 win in the third.

Saturday was the culmination of Franklin Pierce's "Dig Lavender" effort in the month of October. Altering the standard approach of "Dig Pink" to raise money for breast cancer in October, the Ravens elected to raise money for rarer forms of cancer, in honor of Bentley head coach Sandy Hoffman. In total, Franklin Pierce raised over $4,000 in support of cancer research and treatment.

The Franklin Pierce offense wasted no time kicking things into high gear on Saturday, as the Ravens hit .419 with 14 kills against just one error in 31 attempts in the first set. After a .205 second set, they finished things off with authority by hitting .410 in the third set. In all, Franklin Pierce committed just eight attack errors in the match, while piling up 46 kills over 114 attempts to hit .333 for the team's most efficient match since it hit .403 in a season-opening sweep of Holy Family. In comparison, Assumption hit .290 in the first set, but struggled from there, as the Greyhounds made 16 errors against 37 kills to hit .196 over 107 attempts.

The Assumption attack was hassled all night by a Franklin Pierce defense which chalked up six blocks (two per set) and rang up 48 digs (16 pet set) over just three sets. Garcia took part in four blocks (one solo) to complement her offensive accomplishments in the match, while senior libero Lauren Miller (Alexandria, Ind.) and sophomore outside hitter Sydni Schulz (Cypress, Texas) both reached double digits with 18 and 14 digs, respectively.

While the defensive effort was strong, the offense told the story for Franklin Pierce, as no Raven committed more than two errors in the match. Junior outside hitter Catie Swiderski (Rocky Point, N.Y.) hammered out a match-best 13 kills and made only two errors over 38 attempts to hit .289. After her, Schulz was set 21 times and put away nine for kills to hit .333. The work by Swiderski and Schulz on the outside opened holes for Garcia and senior middle Katie Jackson (Centennial, Colo.) to carve up the Assumption defense from the middle of the net all night. As if Garcia's errorless night was not enough, Jackson added seven kills against just one error to hit .400 over 15 attempts. Combined, Franklin Pierce's middles went for 17 kills and made only one error to hit .471 over 34 attempts.

The Ravens ran the offense off the set of senior Stephanie Svorinic (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who dished out 40 assists (13.33 per set). As a team, Franklin Pierce served up five aces, but also committed four service errors. The service game ended up mostly a wash on the evening, as Assumption collected four aces, but made six errors.

Offensively for Assumption, Reilly was the only player in double digits, though senior right side Alie Carlson added four kills without an error to hit .364 over 11 attempts. It was not pretty after that for the Greyhounds, as no other player hit over .200. In fact, the three Assumption players who were set the most -- senior outside hitter Lauren Ostafin (25 attempts), senior outside hitter Mary Johnston (24 attempts) and senior middle Ryan Merle (16 attempts) -- combined to hit just .108 over 65 attempts as they collected 19 kills, but made 12 errors. The Greyhounds worked off the set of senior Kristin Flatekval, who collected 35 assists and served up three aces.

Defensively, senior libero Jess Reimers led Assumption with 19 digs, and she was joined in double digits by Ostafin, who had 12. As a team, the Greyhounds collected only three blocks, though Merle and junior outside hitter Ann Donahue had one solo block each.

The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 29, when they remain home to host Saint Anselm in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Fieldhouse.

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).